Good Friends
by TeamOfAssholes
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are now just friends,because they were broken up by Athena. However it doesn't stop them from experiencing the greatest feelings there is, and the only problem that is left is for them to deal with their broken hearts.
1. African Rundown

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Note: This fanfic is in no way related to the fanfic Aftermath. So if you have read it, please assume a different time and situation. For those who have not read Aftermath, we're sorry for making you read this note. We hope you read the story and please, if you have any concerns about our asshole-like behavior, post in the comments (or place a review) explicitly our cons and pros.

Note 2: This story will be a mix of everything. Adventure, drama, action, angst, conflict, and who could forget, romance. Yes, we love mixing romance into the drift of things. Percabeth, as you call it, is one of our favorites. However, we will not hesitate to make other relationships if we deem them interesting.

Note 3: This fanfic will have characters that are officially deceased in the series. This is therefore an alternate universe, but the characters will essentially be the same.

* * *

African Rundown

It was one thing to go on a trip with your friends. And it was one thing to go on a trip with your whole rootin' tootin' camp. But it is something completely different going on a trip with your whole rootin' tootin' hootin' demigod Half-Blood camp. And every one of the campers knew this. And, knowing this, only a select few went on the trip. Mainly, those that can take care of themselves. Those that were, strictly speaking, over seventeen years old.

And yes, Percy was over 17 years old. He is 18 years old in fact, nearing 19, and so is most of the troop. Annabeth, of course, was in the same order of magnitude as Percy. As were Connor and Travis Stoll, the sons of Hermes, Clarisse and her band of bandwagony sisters, and Selena and her Aphrodite sisters, and who could forget Chiron, the much liked organizer of the whole trip. Other half-bloods were present, obviously, but not many are vital to the advancement of time as the ones just stated.

It was in Madagascar, the north specifically. Chiron had heard that the land was never before discovered and he did not take long to organize a trip, with all appropriate accommodations, to the north of Madagascar. Of course, you would think that half-bloods could teleport, but unfortunately, this time they had to actually fly there.

The flight was long and hard, just like Percy's thingy, but it was worth it. When they arrived in Madagascar, the length and hardship faced on the flight was soon forgotten and had transformed into joyous conversation, a flurry of picture taking and a emotional bonding trip between unfamiliar campers.

"I really like this. We finally get to talk to people we barely talk to. Like the new guy in the Aphrodite cabin. What was his name?" Annabeth asked Percy absent-mindedly.

"I know you know his name, Wise Girl. You're just trying to act as if you don't have a little crush on him." Percy replied sourly. So far, for him, it was a rather boring trip compared to his other adventures. And of course, he didn't mind his buddy Annabeth checking out another guy.

"Crush? On him? No way! He's just new, and I wanted to meet him and talk, that's all." Annabeth turned red temporarily, glancing back at him as they walked through the forest. The campers were all around, whispering, taking pictures and making faces of awe as they witnessed wildlife at work.

"Whatever, Annabeth." Percy sighed. He looked to his right as he walked. Past Annabeth, he saw small movement in the bushes. He stared at the green for a split second and then looked forward again, assuming it was the wind.

"Come on Percy, I know we had a thing, but its over, and you have to get over it." Annabeth said, still looking at the new Aphrodite guy. "And its not like we're platonic anyways." she looked at him fixedly, expecting an appropriate response to that statement.

"I don't know what you mean." Percy lied. Of course he knew what she meant. Annabeth and him were kind of, well, you know, not just buddies, but sex buddies.

"Come on Percy, I know you inside out. We have fun and everything, but we decided to keep it simple. Sex only. When feelings come into it I cry my eyes out and you just…" she paused for a moment and looked at him. "Well, you just feel as bad without crying as well."

"You do know that the only reason we stopped dating was because of your mom, right?" Percy said, annoyed. He started kicking the dead leaves around him with this hiking boots.

"Of course I do. That's why its so much better now. We get all the pleasure, without all the pain. I think this kind of relationship is really special, and lets keep it and not mess it up." Annabeth started walking faster. She then called "hey!" to the back in front of her to get the Aphrodite guy's attention.

Percy grunted. She was right, but it didn't make him stop having feelings for her. After all, she was the first girl he ever loved, and the first girl that ever loved him. He stalked behind both of them, Annabeth and the Aphrodite guy, watching their actions. They talked, and laughed harmonically and simultaneously quite frequently. Percy tried to ignore the pain that welled in his chest but he just couldn't.

He just couldn't wait until this trip was over.

* * *

They made camp near the western shores of the huge island. Every tent had seven people, and there were eight tents, but Chiron was in a tent by himself. And everybody had a tent buddy. And very weird things can happen to you if you were in a tent at the time.

There was never as much sleep as there was drinking, laughing, and just straight up having fun. You would completely forget yourself, I assure you. All enemies were forgotten and made friends. Even the Ares cabin was friendly if given a little encouragement from some half-blood made and brewed vodka.

It started in the Aphrodite tent. After Percy set up his tent bed and pillows and got everything in order, he made for their tent as quickly as possible. He knew Annabeth would be there, and he wanted to give her a taste of the jealousy that he felt when he was watching her and the Aphrodite guy talking.

When he entered, there was a table set up, with ten shot glasses and a big bottle of vodka in the middle. The trick was, you were asked a question, a dare, or anything to do by the second person to your left, and if you couldn't do it, you would drink a shot. Essentially, impossible demands were made which ended in everybody being insanely drunk by three am.

Percy took a seat beside one of the Aphrodite girls. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a look of infinite innocence. He only gave her one glance, and then set his fingers around his shot glass, as it was the turn of anybody that had just joined the table.

The second person to his left was Travis. He was still clearly sober, but his demand obviously wasn't.

"Do a pushup without your legs!" he demanded. He then smiled at Percy, expecting him to give up and take the shot.

After a few trials, Percy filled his shot glass from the vodka bottle and downed it immediately. It felt very disgusting at first, as if one was having his tonsils stretched wide and tickled from the middle, with a bland taste. But, a split second later, he felt his heart burn like wasabi on someone's tongue. It also felt like a huge baseball bat came and smashed the back of his head, but all of the sudden the world around him felt more cheerful. He smiled stupidly, and the rest of the table laughed.

The game went on. When the vodka bottle was halfway finished, jokes were being thrown about, flirting, dancing, grinding, and everything else you would normally see in a traditional party. A slow dance music was turned on, and people started dancing with each other. Percy found himself dancing with the Aphrodite girl, who was as intoxicated as he was, after five shots of the strong vodka.

It was a strange position. Her back was leaning on his chest, his arms under her waist bone. Her arms were around his butt, squeezing them in equal time intervals to match the beat of the music. Percy felt utterly amazing. Lost, in lust and in mind.

Annabeth's situation wasn't much different. She was assuming the same position but with the Aphrodite guy that had caught her eye earlier in the day. They slowly twisted and turned around each other, laughing and singing along with the familiar song.

The rest of the tent was similar. There were six other people, each guy with a girl from the Aphrodite cabin. The dancing went along for a long time, and when Percy felt that his legs were sore, he sat down with the girl on his lap and planted an awesome kiss on her lips.

Although the transition may seem quick, it was fairly regular for Percy. He soon carried her back to his tent, where he set his bed near Annabeth, and laid her gently down. The ecstasy didn't stop there, but continued into different bases. His next kisses melted away with her skin, and her moans lifted his spirits more than he ever imagined.

* * *

Percy felt something hit him hard in the gut. He opened his eyes, slowly and painfully, to see that the girl he met last night was getting out of the sheets. He saw her small, naked body pick up her clothes and leave the tent silently without looking back at him.

He yawned silently. He turned around to the other side of his bed and saw Annabeth's sleeping face right in front of him and he yelled in surprise. Annabeth then woke up and screamed as well. They exchanged screams until they realized that they were both awake.

Annabeth then sat up straight in her bed, the sheets falling off her chest, revealing that she as well, did not have any clothes on her body. "Percy, why do you have to wake me up like that?" she rubbed her left eye, annoyed. She then pushed the sheets off her and stood up to stretch.

"Hey, you were the one sleeping right in front of my face." Percy said, equally annoyed. He looked at her as she stared down at him. "Where's your Aphrodite guy? Did he leave on you?"

"What about your girl? Oh wait, she left on you too, sucker." Annabeth then sat down beside Percy on his sheets.

"Ah, whatever. She was pretty good. Small, but pretty and really nice." Percy sighed, waiting for her response.

"And?" Annabeth prompted, smiling.

"Okay, you win. I bet your guy wasn't as good either. The guy looks like a complete amateur." Percy pointed out.

"Well I didn't really do him. Did you do her?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, no. I was kind of saving myself up for-" Percy said but got cut off.

"What, now?" Annabeth smiled as she took the sheets off him and sat on his stomach.

Percy felt like he was still drunk. Then Annabeth's vodka tasting mouth flowed into his, and Percy's likewise. This was usually the case every morning after a long night or an attempt to do a one night stand. They wouldn't end up having sex with the random guy or girl, and in the morning they would have make up sex.

About twenty minutes later, there was shouting going on outside from Chiron.

With a final kiss, Annabeth slipped out of Percy and got dressed. Percy grunted loudly. "Why do we have to keep doing this, Annabeth?" he stood up.

She turned around and said. "I don't know. I just can't seem to do it."

"Neither can I." he sighed.

After they got dressed and packed their beds and got their tent ready, they put it all on their back and started going through Madagascar once again.

* * *

Everything was going great until they reached the north tip of the island. They started hearing strange sounds, and Percy, who was the go to guy and Annabeth, who was the go to girl, were getting looked at to investigate these sounds and where they exactly come from.

Percy, of course, heard these sounds before. And he has seen the tracks of such a thing before. It was, in short, a monster. Yes, a monster in the north end of Madagascar. Strange things seem to happen where you don't expect it. But unfortunately the only thing that can be done is to get rid of the monster the same way he always did.

Riptide at his side, Percy stalked silently through the forest, hoping to find the monster. He heard it's footsteps from about ten meters away. He didn't want to alert the monster, lest it finds out that he was following it.

Since the Madagascar forest was so dense he only caught glimpses of the monster, and those were a shiny gold mixed with a light brown. It seemed to walk on four legs, and was carefully watching its surroundings. In a sudden second, it burst into a sprint, and Percy acted likewise. He needed to track down this monster and take it out before it can do more damage to wandering half-bloods.

The forest was not easy to navigate through. Even with Percy's superior strength to the other half-bloods from being dipped into the river Styx as well as being stabbed by his own blade molded with Stygian iron, he had greater stamina than all half bloods, superior skills in all weapons and strength unmatched by any other demigod.

He sped up and started to catch up to the monster. He crashed into some trees but that didn't slow him down by a lot. He then heard the monster's sound go to the right, trying to get out of the forest. Percy tried to follow but he slipped on a rock and tumbled on a long cliff. He kept rolling vertically until he crashed arm first into a tree, giving him a large cut along his right tricep.

He was, however, close to the beach. He finally got a full view of the monster. It was huge, on four legs, muscular, had a golden pelt, as well as a large mane. It was, in fact, the Nemean lion.

It turned around and roared, trying to strike fear into the heart of Percy. But Percy kept his composure. He knew that the lion couldn't get hurt from any weapon, and had to be choked to death.

The lion roared again, and charged furiously towards Percy. Percy braced himself and pounced to the right, and with all his might swung his left uninjured arms at the face of the lion and smashed his fist into it. He heard something crack, and didn't know if it was his wrist or the lion's face. But he didn't feel any pain, so he assumed it was the lion's face.

The lion jumped back up, unaffected. It stood on two legs and started swinging it's claws at Percy. He dodged them all and gave the lion a devastating punch under it's arm on its nerve, making the lion cry with surprise.

The lion tumbled down the sand near the water. Percy had to get up and choke it.

"Percy, drown it!" he heard a voice scream from in front of him. It was Annabeth, and behind her was Clarisse and Travis.

Percy stood up with difficulty and walked towards the paralyzed lion. It tried to get to it's feet, but the nerves that connected its arms were disabled. But it doesn't mean the thing can't bite. Percy approached cautiously and made a colossal attempt to headlock the massive head, and succeeded. The lion tried to bite his hand and chop it off, but failed miserably as it felt itself getting choked to death.

It roared and went into frenzy, but it was not able to get out. It gave a final, pathetic moan of defeat and dropped to the ground, dead. So did Percy.

He heard Annabeth's footsteps coming towards him and carrying him. "Come on, into the water Percy."

She dragged him gently into the sea and Percy slowly felt his wounds starting to wash away into the water, slightly tainting it red with his blood. But the water sustained and cured him, as it always had.

Annabeth then helped him stand, and took him to the shore to meet the others.

"I need the Nemean lion armor…" Percy moaned tiredly.

"Too late. It's starting to fade." Annabeth said. "Come on, Percy. Let me get you to the shore."

Percy started at the golden fur disappear into dust, to be reformed in the bowels of Hades and then released again. Percy then sighed and looked at Annabeth.

"What is it?" Annabeth smiled reassuredly.

"I was just thinking about how nothing lasts." Percy replied. "And what a shame that is."

"If you're talking about us, it just can't happen anymore Percy. Unless you weren't talking about us and you were talking about the lion, which I highly doubt." Annabeth chuckled softly.

"Oh no, I was talking about us." Percy said as they got to the shore. "I was talking about us, obviously."


	2. Speak of the Devil!

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Note: the TAW got quite a few personal messages directly to our e-mail, almost half of which said that they didn't really like the explicitness of the so called 'sex scenes' and the other half which appreciated that there in fact was mature themes such as sex. I myself, (Asshole #3), wrote the first chapter and came up with the storyline, where the other two assholes before myself, 1 and 2, agreed to it. So due to the mixed feedback I will keep writing the way I was in the first chapter.

* * *

Speak of the Devil!

Percy sat himself down on the uncomfortable seat near the terminal of flight 28A going to Cairo in OR Tambo International Airport. The airport was loud and extremely crowded, but fortunately not many people were travelling to Cairo at five am. Annabeth appeared to his right, with a reassuring look on her face. To his left, Travis sat, twitching and scratching his arms.

"Percy, can I talk to you for just a minute?" a voice came from above him.

It was Chiron, in his wheelchair disguise, in front of him with a tranquil face and concerned eyes. "It will only take a minute."

Percy stood up and sighed. It was quite a long day. First they had to trek from the Nemean lion death site to the airport in Madagascar and then fly to Johannesburg, where there next flight to Cairo was already in order.

When at a few meters away from the campers, Chiron started talking. "It was an amazing thing you did back there, Percy. Few survive the wrath of the Nemean lion. And only one did it twice." His eyes twinkled with pride.

Percy felt his tiredness shake away by the sound of the praise. "Thank you, sir. I was doing what I can."

"Yes, indeed you were. Now let me draw your attention to something. You are on demand now."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, confused.

"I mean the gods see that you are a person that can get things done. They will ask you to do tasks that no one can do quite frequently, either to get you killed, or to just entertain themselves." Chiron looked at him intently.

"You don't say." Percy wasn't surprised. He could imagine the gods getting bored now that the war with the Titans was finally over.

"Yes, you are part of a game now. They gamble on your health, I should say. The Nemean lion was planted by Ares as a test of strength." Chiron replied.

"I should've known." Percy shrugged. "Will there be constant tests like that?"

"They happen randomly. Don't let it get into your daily routine to be cautious, though. I'm sure that you are ready at any time of the day." Chiron nodded at him, expecting him to comply.

"Certianly, Chiron." Percy nodded back.

"And how is it going between you and Annabeth? Since the…separation?" Chiron paused before considering the last word he said.

"What? Hm, it's going well, Chiron. Better than I expected." Percy lied.

"It's too bad that you had to go your separate ways. You are still talking to her, I gather?" Chiron inquired, curious.

"Of course, Chiron." Percy forced out. He usually couldn't speak about his breakup with Annabeth with anybody. Not even himself.

"Great, great, yes, great, Percy." Chiron muttered. "If anything changes, I will update you. In the meantime, have a great flight." He smiled a centaur smile and wheelchaired away.

Percy sat back down beside Annabeth. She gave his neck a squeeze to let him know that she was there for him. And Percy couldn't ask for more than that.

* * *

The flight to Cairo was quite long but the plane was for the most part empty. The second half of the plane, from its middle to its tail, was void of life. So the camper spread themselves out and got comfy for the time being. Percy was searching for a place to rest his head.

He found a combination of three seats and after removing the seat separators, lied down and closed his eyes momentarily before being disturbed once again.

It wasn't Chiron this time. Or Annabeth. It was Selena, the leader of the Aphrodite cabin. Her hair was dyed blonde today, which really suited her. She had very smooth skin and a overtly beautiful face, her lips small yet pronounced, her eyes shiny and smoothly shaped, and her cheeks perfectly giving a girl next door accent to her whole look. She was wearing a tank top with a pair of hiking shorts and flip flops.

"Percy. I know you're tired and everything but I just wanted to talk to you for a second." Selena began slowly.

"So does everybody." Percy sat up straight to give her room to sit down. "What do you want? To talk about, I mean." Percy shook his head, embarrassed.

"Just stuff. I haven't talked to you in a while. I just wanted to see how you were doing after the lion incident." Selena looked pryingly at Percy's face.

"I'm fine, thank you. It's just been a very long trip for me and I'm just glad we're going back to camp." Percy replied, keeping his true feelings reserved. He didn't feel like Selena was the right person to tell what he felt to.

"I saw you with Joanna last night. It wasn't the impression I wanted to give her about you but, what the hell." Selena smiled a small but sincere smile.

"It's not what you think. I didn't-" Percy started, but got cut off.

"Do the nasty? Well, I guess that's pretty disappointing for her, considering she's had her eye on you ever since you got dumped by Annabeth." Selena said flatly.

Percy felt his mouth go dry. "Yeah. Look, I'm really tired, and I need to just rest my head, alone, for a minute."

Selena didn't reply, but gave him a look that said, "Just get over it." She then stood up and left.

Percy stretched his legs again and rested his head on the hard pillow of the airplane seat. Annabeth didn't dump him. Her no good mother just told her to break up with him or else she will never get what she wants in life. And apparently Percy just wasn't one of those things.

* * *

They arrived in camp approximately the next day. A celebration was to be held for Percy, who had defeated the Nemean lion for the second time. He didn't manage to get the pelt, yet there were enough eyewitnesses to confirm the tale. There was a lot of dancing, cheering, and clapping for Percy, who was not used to the attention before.

In the middle of the festivity, ambrosia glasses were raised by the demigods and they chanted, "Speech, speech!" at Percy, hoping he would indeed give them a speech.

Percy, encouraged by Annabeth, stood on a table and addressed the audience.

"Fellow demigods! To say I am happy is an understatement. I am truly grateful for the whole event today, organized by Chiron and Mr. D. Although it is not in my best interest to say this but it seems that that I don't know you all as well as I should like, and I don't like more than you think than you deserve." Percy said smartly, and the half-bloods glanced at each other, confused. "Believe in yourself, is my theme, and you will conquer all!"

They cheered. Percy clapped and everybody else followed. It was a truly joyous scene, and Percy enjoyed it not because of the attention, but because he was back home, in a familiar scene. Things might just go back to the way they were back here, but no way in Madagascar.

After he jumped off the table, he hugged Annabeth. She was all smiles, and so was he, because it was a truly joyous moment. He had survived the wrath of the Nemean lion, and he lived to tell the tale, twice!

"You wanna go watch a movie?" Percy shouted over the cheering. He was hoping he could celebrate alone a bit with Annabeth.

"Sure, of course!" Annabeth nodded while she screamed back.

"What would your mother think?" Percy replied loudly.

"To tell you the truth, right now I don't really care!" Annabeth smiled.

And so they went to downtown New York, where everything happens and the city never sleeps. It wasn't a trip of lust or love, but just a trip that two friends would normally take when they are adventurous.

They got to the Upper East Side of New York fairly quickly. They took a taxi to the outskirts of the sector and then walked to it, and in the meantime talking about everything they had encountered in their life up until now.

They finally arrived at the movie theatre. There weren't many interesting new movies, but there was a reshow of a movie called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. They decided to watch it, given that they didn't really come all the way to the Upper East Side for nothing.

The movie was very depressing at first, but it ends on a very happy note. It says that all relationships can work, given that the right amount of work is put into it. Annabeth was teary in the end, but it was nothing that Percy couldn't handle.

"Don't cry Annabeth, it's all good now. They decided to give it another shot." Percy said reassuringly.

"I know, I just can't help it." Annabeth hugged Percy tightly as he helped her stand out of her seat.

They got out of the theater and started walking around the crowded street. It was so crowded they could barely sustain a conversation without breaking apart to dodge crowds of people passing by in the opposite direction. They finally decided to cut through the crowd and walk through a dark alleyway that would take them to the other side of the theater building. At first it seemed like a good idea.

As they walked through the alleyway, they got a sense of how long and black it actually was. Percy stopped for a second and Annabeth glanced at him with cautious eyes.

"What is it? Because I hear something too." Annabeth asked quietly.

"I don't know. But stay on your guard." Percy resumed walking very slowly, trying not to alert anything that might come up or that might be there.

After a few minutes of cautious walking, they hear a voice behind them, deep and menacing, but strangely familiar to them.

"Perseus Jackson…" the voice said, and then faded back. Percy turned around swiftly and opened his hands. He could usually sense their movement from his palms.

"Perseus Jackson…"another voice said, but from his right.

"Perseus Jackson…" from his left.

"It's the Furies." Annabeth muttered.

"The Furies? What the hell do they want?" Percy stared back at her, confused. "Show yourself! I command you to show yourself!" Percy demanded commandingly.

There was a synchronous laughter from all three. Faint red lights then appeared in the alleyway, which gave the appearance of three, ugly and menacing creatures. Each had an open mouth with a different number of teeth, all were sharp and their faces were uglier than Percy could ever imagine.

"Die, Perseus Jackson, in the name of vengeance." One hissed, and in a split second it leaped towards Percy, almost knocking him off guard.

"Ahh!" Percy shouted. He dodged her attack, barely, and uncapped Riptide. He saw Annabeth pull out her dagger. They were after him, again. What could he have done wrong now?

After a succession of strikes from one of the Furies Percy was disarmed. He couldn't dive for the sword because that would give them a clear strike at his back, which he would greatly regret. Instead he decided to fight with his bare hands, like he did the Nemean lion. The Furies slashed with sharp nails and claws as well as rushed him head first. Percy smartly dodged all subsequent attacks and waited for the right moment to strike. He saw Annabeth fending off one of the Furies, so he had two all to himself.

One of them charged, and Percy, noticing it's slithery figure, waited for the right moment and gave the incoming Fury's face a furious punch that slammed it face first into the ground. The other Fury did something similar and started swiping its long, sharp claws at Percy, and he dodged almost all of them, leaving the remaining few to scar his face and his arms. He then managed to grab one of it's arms while it was jabbing and make a little return to sender, where he used the Fury's arm to nearly cut off it's own neck.

Glancing at Annabeth once again, he saw that she was almost finished with the Fury. She skillfully dodged three swipes from the Fury and stabbed it in between it's eyes. The Fury fell to the floor, defeated. She was controlling her breathing, a skill that barely anybody can do while in such a challenging encounter with such violent enemies. She then sheathed her dagger and looked expectantly at the Fury, waiting for it to fade into dust.

And it did, as Percy walked over to her to ask her a pretty stupid question. "These weren't actually the Furies, were they?" he inquired incredulously.

"No, they weren't. These were women seeking revenge on their lover's sins, powered by the Furies' blessings. I could imagine who they'd want revenge on." She turned to look at Percy, eyebrows raised.

"What, me? I've only had one lover in my life, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't have sharp teeth and claws." Percy seemed offended.

Annabeth chuckled. "I didn't mean you, Seaweed Brain. I was just looking at you to acknowledge your presence."

"Oh, ok. You scared me there for a minute…" Percy turned around, to survey the alley. It seemed as if nothing happened at all. All the evidence that could have shown that a fight had indeed ensued here was nonexistent because it vanished with the dust of the Fury-possessed women. He then heard a phone ringing.

He turned to look at Annabeth and heard it coming from her jeans pocket. It was the traditional phone ringtone from the early 90s. Who the hell would be calling Annabeth at three am?

"Who's calling you?" Percy asked, curious.

"I don't…I can't get it out of my pocket!" Annabeth struggled to get her hand into her pocket at all. "Percy, a little help please?"

"But of course. Why are you wearing such tight jeans anyways? I know you don't like tight stuff." Percy shook his head, displaying fake disappointment.

"But I know you do." Annabeth said, and almost immediately laughed out loud at her dirty reference. And since she does these references almost all the time when with Percy, his natural reply would be a sincere laugh and a,

"ZING!" Percy said emphatically. He tried to shove his hand in Annabeth's pocket, but in the dark he could barely make out where it was open from. While trying to dig into the pocket, he accidentally ripped the zipper and the button of the jeans, but he succeeded in extracting the phone from the pocket, which was still ringing.

"Here you go." Percy handed it to Annabeth, who still had a smile on her face. She answered the phone and the expression on her face immediately changed.

After a couple of nods and a couple of 'okays' she said, "I'll be right there. See you in a few."

"Where we goin'?" Percy asked loosely, sticking his hands in his jean pockets because he was feeling a little chilly.

"I have a meeting. You have to come with me." Annabeth said vaguely. "Come on, I'm already late."

"Ok." He replied, surprised by her sudden matter of fact-ness. She started walking out of the alley rather quickly and Percy followed. They came to a quicker pace once they reached the main street. Generally, any human being can cover more ground by foot than by car in the Upper East Side of New York when there is an extreme amount of traffic around the main streets. And if you were a demigod, you would cover much, much more ground.

They headed back in the direction of the Camp, but then ventured off to the south, where they found a fairly large house, with a fairly spectacular architecture. There were two stairways that led up to the same door, with an elegant and different design on each. To the left and right of the door, there were large columns, ones you would see in Ancient Greece ruins in Athens of the old temples where they used to worship the Gods in. Of course, they are not of much use now as they were back then, but they were amazingly reincarnated in this house.

After examining the fantastic architecture, Percy followed Annabeth, who treaded up the stairs in a hurry. She then knocked to the double door, painted a dark mahogany. After a few seconds, the door opened, and a large figure came to greet them.

"Lord Hephaestus," Annabeth bowed her head to the god. Percy, stunned, did likewise. He heard tales before of the ugliness that has had a stranglehold on Hephaestus since his existence, but he thought that was just exaggeration. Unfortunately, it's very much true.

"I come here to take classes on being an architect. Lord Hephaesus teaches me the civil and mechanical aspects of it, and I also learn the math behind it here." Annabeth informed Percy promptly.

"And who teaches you math?" Percy inquired.

Hephaestus laughed at his inquiry. "Is that even a question, hero? It would be none other than-" he started, but was cut off by a woman's voice, strong and full of confidence, a voice that Percy had dreaded since the first time he heard it.

"Her mother."

* * *

Endnote: The movie mentioned in this chapter, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is highly recommended. We all watched it and it was rather spectacular, but it was never very famous. It was one of those indie movies.

-Asshole #3


	3. Water Boat

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Water Boat

"Her mother." Athena said triumphantly.

"Ah, yes, Lady Athena," Percy bowed his head low enough so that he can't see her anymore. What was she doing here? He looked expectantly at Annabeth, but her eyes didn't meet his. She had no say in the matter, apparently.

"Yes, Jackson. Or should I say, son of Poseidon. Come in! My daughter has a lot of work to do after the generous break that I gave her to go to Africa." Athena moved away from the door, and so did Hephaestus. Annabeth walked in quickly, and Percy followed suit. He didn't want to know what would come next, and he hoped that this would be the last time he would meet with Athena personally.

When inside, Hephaestus motioned to Annabeth to follow him, and she did, to the right side of the hall that stood before them. It was most obviously a replica of the thrones of Hephaestus and Athena at Olympus. They were beautifully crafted and made, but compared to the actual thrones, they were a rather poor rendition.

"I don't think you came here to take multivariable integration lessons, Jackson? I think even single variable algebra would blow you out of the water!" Athena scorned.

"Not even a Scylla can blow me out of the water." Percy muttered, annoyed. He was never comfortable hanging around people that said jokes that were related to math. Although it was hypocritical therefore that he hung out with Annabeth this whole time.

Athena was walking towards a room that looked like a living room, except it had a drawing chalkboard and stacks of parchment around large tables. Certainly an engineer's workplace, Percy thought. Or better yet, an architect. Percy surveyed the place, impressed with the messy organization of papers and ideas.

"You like it, it seems." Athena said, surprised.

"Yes, it's very professional and fitting for an architect." Percy said, looking back at Athena.

"Oh, it is not mine! Please do not even think that this is mine! This is my daughter's!" Athena retorted.

Not bothered to reply, Percy fell silent, and started thinking about what he was going to do. It started out rather a pleasant night, but being attacked by the Furies and then being called into Annabeth's office was not really part of the plan. Finding a place on a nearby sofa, he sat down until he could recollect what he was going to do and how he was going to do it.

Athena muttered something to Annabeth and Annabeth attended to one of the tables, where Hephaestus was seated, skimming over what seemed to be blueprints, which had countless scribbles of calculations and permutations. After what seemed like a lifetime, Athena finally spoke.

"Jackson, there is no need for you to stay, I gather. You may leave." She said without turning to look at him from the table.

Percy didn't immediately move. He was about to say something to Annabeth she then said "Just go. I'll talk to you later."

"You're damn right you will. Now Annabeth get back to this here. I've told you before using multiples of phi isn't the solution when taking into consideration the material we're using here." Athena continued.

"Ah, yes, Athena." Annabeth muttered. "Root five plus one over 2 plus 1 gives phi squared…"

Leaving before she could finish her calculation, Percy pushed the door to the manor open and did not bother closing it. He wouldn't mind if a chill ran through Athena's spine once in a while.

* * *

Percy woke up the next day from a loud knock on the Poseidon cabin door. He thought if he ignored it the person would just go away, but the person persisted until Percy got out of bed in his jeans and with no shirt on to open the door. The person wasn't who he expected, and his eyes widened in surprise. It was the Aphrodite girl that he almost took advantage of in Madagascar.

Now that he saw he in the sunny light of day, she wasn't all that bad. Her blonde hair was mildly wet from what Percy smelled, the beach, and her gorgeous smile showed off her white teeth generously, as her blue eyes shone with excitement. Percy couldn't help but smile back at this good way to start a day. She was wearing a wet blue tank top, under which she had a bathing suit on, and jean shorts that cut off in the high end of her tanned thighs.

"Hi Percy!" she said in a cheerful tone. "Selena wanted me to give you this." She took a note out of her jean shorts and handed it to Percy.

"Selena? A note for me?" Percy muttered inaudibly. What did she want now?

Percy straightened the crumpled note and started reading:

'Hello Percy  
As you may well now know, Joanna, or as the Aphrodite cabin calls her Lexi, has taken a liking to you. Unfortunately, I can't stand her babbling about you anymore, and I got sick of other girls in our cabin complaining to me, so I want you to just take her for one day and do something that will satisfy her need for you for maybe, I don't know, 20 years?  
Sincerely,  
Selena  
P.S. I owe you one after this.'

The handwriting was Selena's so Percy knew it wasn't some sort of Aphrodite prank. It would be foolish to think he could have a quiet morning. Sighing, he told Lexi to come in.

"Just wait here until I can get into something more less…annoying, and then we'll go out okay?" Percy said as he went up the stairs of the cabin to his room. He changed into a pair of shorts and a half sleeve sky blue t-shirt and a pair of Nike sneakers, and went downstairs again to find Lexi waiting exactly where he left her.

"You know you can talk to me right?" Percy ventured, frowning.

"Yes! Where are we going?" she said, out of breath from smiling.

"Well, I usually speak to Chiron in the morning. Just to, you know, catch up and stuff." He lied. He knew perfectly well that he needed a new sword. Riptide had failed him twice so far in the past week, and it was becoming rather annoying.

"Okay!"

So they went to Chiron's office. It was decorated with trophies of accomplishments of Chiron's students. The centaur was seated behind his desk, staring at the ceiling and murmuring to himself.

"Children of Kronos never see peace do they?" Percy greeted him.

Chiron's head dropped to face his. "You dare say his name when you know he is still in Tartarus?"

Percy shrugged. "I need a new sword, Chiron. One that preferably doesn't fail me when the gods are using me as their plaything."

Chiron's face remained with it's previous expression, but then broke into a smile. "Ah, Riptide! The sword of heroes! Yet not good enough for Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon! I tell you, I never saw the day coming."

"Neither did I. Which is why I need a thicker and more powerful sword." Percy said seriously.

"Well then, celestial bronze is not an option then. Stygian iron wouldn't do either, since you want a sword with inherent power. Black crystal is what you seek, then." Chiron nodded to himself.

"Black crystal? I've never heard of a black crystal material before." Percy frowned, confused.

"Indeed, black crystal is the most powerful substance known to the world. It, however, is just as unstable as it's power."

"Even if I get the substance, how will I make it a sword? I will need extremely good smiths and…" Percy stopped talking because he already knew the answer.

"Yes, the Hephaestus kids will gladly forge it for you I think, knowing where you will get it from." Chiron mused.

"Where I will get it from? Where will I get it from?" Percy repeated.

"Why, Hephaestion of course!" Lexi chimed in. Percy temporarily forgot she was there, so he was startled when she spoke. "He once stole a precious crystal from a smithy in Athens, which had inside it a touch of black crystal ore! Ever since, he's been an enemy of Hephaestus."

"Surely a touch of ore is not enough to forge a sword!" Percy groaned.

"Of course not, silly! A touch of ore can lead us to find the source, which is probably in Lemnos." Lexi continued, gently holding Percy's arm.

"Lemnos? The island near Greece?" Percy inquired, slightly smiling. He was going home.

"Yes. But beware. The black crystals will not be unguarded. Hephaestus has more than monsters at his command." Chiron warned.

"I see. I should call Annabeth then." Percy turned around to face Lexi and then guiltily smiled.

"Percy, I suggest you take her instead of Annabeth. She knew that it was in Lemnos after all." Chiron said calmly.

"Yes, of course. Come, Lexi. I'll show you my ship!" Percy put his arm around her neck and walked out of Chiron's office.

* * *

"Where's your ship?" Lexi asked, mildly confused.

"Be patient." Percy muttered something to the beach water, and stood back. A split second later he heard Lexi gasp. It was indeed a glorious site. A small rowboat formed, not from wood, but from water. Percy couldn't believe his eyes when he first conjured it, but it had seemed that his powers had no limit within water.

"Wow! Will I get wet if I step inside?" Lexi took a step forward, with the shores splashing onto her flip flops.

"Well, not really. Not if I'm in it. You're wet anyway, so what does it matter?" Percy laughed as a bigger wave splashed onto her legs.

"Ok let's go!" Lexi jumped in the water and splashed towards the boat. She jumped in and gripped the rowing sticks.

"You seriously think we're going to row there? Come on, Lexi. I thought you were smarter than that." Percy said playfully as Lexi opened her mouth, offended.

She then smiled and said "At least I know where we're going. You don't."

Just as Percy was about to reply, he heard another voice shout "Wait!"

Turning around he saw Annabeth rushing towards him. She was wearing the same clothes as last night, but her eyes were weary, apparently getting no sleep at all for the whole night that just passed. There was still excitement in them, even though they seemed exhausted.

"Percy! I just heard from Chiron that you're going to get a black crystal piece!" Annabeth smiled, clearly tired.

"Yeah I am. Hey Annabeth, why don't you get some sleep huh? You look like you haven't slept all night." Percy lowered his voice to speak the last sentence, voicing genuine concern.

"Aw, it's nothing. Just something really exciting happened while I was…erm…working." Annabeth's smile didn't disappear.

"Tell me."

"Later. Now go. I'm sure this won't take long." Annabeth hugged him. Lexi was eyeing her with a look that said, 'don't be so sure about that'.

"All right. I'll see you. Bye." Percy awkwardly released the hug and stepped into the boat, from which the revolving water vanished, and was replaced by pristine wood. Percy flicked his finger and suddenly something erupted beneath them, and they were speeding away. At the head of the boat, a shape that looked like a stallion emerged, and Lexi and Percy spotted Annabeth waving as they speeded away.


	4. Some 1 on 1 Time

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Some 1 on 1 Time

They arrived at Lemnos quicker than Lexi expected. It took only a few hours, because Percy used what seemed like an underwater path, which is exclusive to the nymphs of the sea. Nevertheless, they found themselves, dry, on the beaches of Lemnos.

Percy checked his pockets to see if he brought Riptide with him, but an empty pocket quickly confirmed that he didn't. Lexi, spotting his disappointment, took out a bronze dagger that was twisted so that it looked like a tongue, except fatally sharp.

"Don't worry. I got this." Lexi said to him as Percy walked off to the beach and towards a set of buildings near the shore.

Percy didn't respond but nodded slightly. He wasn't going to make Lexi feel unsafe now, but if she knew that Percy had survived many a skirmish without his now useless sword, then the whole endeavor wouldn't be as exciting. Lexi followed him until they reached a set of intersecting roads, and at the first floor of one of the buildings was a motel, with the sign "Island Hoppers Motel".

"Since we know Greek, we can speak to them. I'll let you do the talking, since –" Percy stopped outside the motel and looked at Lexi for a second.

"Since I'm an Aphrodite?" Lexi smiled. She did seem like she liked being an Aphrodite.

"Yes. Now, you know what to do." Percy replied and Lexi entered the motel by shoving the door carelessly. Percy started counting the seconds. When he reached around 70, he saw Lexi motioning from inside for him to enter.

"I got us the roof. It would be best to scout from there the landscape and find where the black crystals lie." Lexi told him as she walked towards the elevator, and Percy followed, shaking his head slowly.

When they got to their room it wasn't that bad. There was a large king bed in the middle, with what looked like a kitchen a few meters from it. It was only a few seconds later until Lexi spoke again, asking Percy what they were going to do next.

"Now? We wait for the monsters." Percy sat down on the king bed and looked at her, waiting for her to complain.

"Wait? So I might as well go get some new clothes." Lexi offered, waiting for Percy's turn to complain.

"You're going to shop? Now? Out of all times?" Percy shook his head. "Are you uncomfortable in your clothes now that you really have to go get some new ones?"

"Well, not really. But, since we have to wait, I might as well make use of it. Plus, how are monsters going to find us inside here? We would be trapped if they come in, and we need to follow them, not them follow us, so we might as well go out." Lexi pointed out.

Percy didn't say anything for a moment and then stood up. "Ok. But I'm coming with you."

Lexi's eyebrows shot up in surprise and shock. "Come with me? I'm gonna go and try some clothes on, not with you around you creep."

"Like I'm going to let you out of here, alone, to shop. Come on, Lexi. I'm pretty sure there's some undead trinket and clothes shop around here." Percy got up and they both exited the building.

Since the Mist makes it impossible for normal mortals to see, they found a shop quite quickly. The store title was "Undead Designs" and the store clerk was a friendly skeleton. It didn't scare Lexi one bit, but Percy stayed alert. The underworld was where all monsters came from, so it was worth keeping a lookout.

They browsed the store for what appeared to be quite some time. When Lexi found something that she liked the look of, like a t-shirt, she would place it over her upper body and ask Percy how it looked. When Percy said it looked nice, she would say that she didn't like it, and vice versa. This happened a couple of times, until Percy gave up on her and told her to get whatever she wants, placing a pound of drachma on the counter near the skeleton, telling the skeleton that he has an insane companion.

"Well, that color is too dark for my skin…I don't know. Percy! Listen, I'm going to try on two shirts and please tell me which color suits my skin color more!" Lexi said, and without waiting for an answer, she skipped gracefully to the back of the store to where the changing rooms are.

Percy sighed and followed. He saw her close the curtain to the room and spotted her hands taking off her shirt from above the curtain. Turning away, he tried to take his mind of the situation at hand.

"What the hell is she trying to do? I mean, she knows I like Annabeth." Percy whispered to himself, shaking his head slowly.

Not long later, Lexi emerged from the room with a yellow tanktop on. Her tanned skin looked mesmerizing in comparison to the bright yellow. Percy didn't want to admit it, and hoped that he didn't have a look on his face, but she had the most beautiful skin ever.

"It's nice, Lexi. I think you should get it." Percy said, turning his head to look around.

"Yeah, I kind of like it! I mean, I'm always gonna be tanned, so might as well get this. And I might as well keep it on."

What seemed like millennia later, Lexi was finally done. She had bought quite a lot of clothes, and they went back to the motel to meet the surprised glance of the receptionist, who was obviously wondering where they got all the bags from.

"Just clothes." Percy mouthed in Greek and entered the elevator to go to their room.

"Now I'm gonna have to try these on. You're gonna tell me whether –" Lexi started, but Percy cut her off impatiently.

"Listen, Lexi, as much as I like to have diversified experiences with different half bloods, this has been the most boring! Gods, you just shop all the time? What else do you Aphrodite girls do?" Percy sighed, annoyed.

"That's not true! We tan, we organize parties for the camp, you know. We can also be very persuasive." Lexi said, with an emphasis on the word very.

"Well, persuade this." Percy muttered inaudibly. Personally, he didn't mind being with her. It was a break from all the drama in the camp. Since this was a personal question he really couldn't care less when he would get back, because in reality there is no time limit. He jumped on the bed and let out a sigh of relief as Lexi went to try on the clothes.

Percy in the meantime was replying to her inquiries about how she looked and also was watching out for the stench of monsters. Then he remembered Chiron's words: "Hephaestus has more than monsters at his command.'

"It's most probably machines, I'm guessing metal eagles or dragons or something of the sort." Lexi said in reply to his words.

"What? Oh yeah, that. How'd you know I was thinking about it?"

"What d'you mean, you said it out loud." Lexi gave him a puzzled look. "I heard you say it."

"No I didn't." Percy replied. "Did I?"

"You did. Anyways look at this dress! Do you think it's too short from behind?" Lexi turned around. She had a really short black dress on. Percy's eyes feasted on her tanned legs up until they were blocked by the black dress very near her behind.

Percy turned around, trying not to get distracted. The last thing he needed to think about right now was sex. But the funny thing was, he had no time limit, no obligations. He could afford to waste time looking at Lexi trying out dresses like a fashion show.

"It's kind of short." Percy turned around again, seeing her in the same posture. "Why'd you even get that? Don't you have enough back in camp?"

"Well, I do have one, but it's not in the same material as this. This one smells really nice, and is much smoother. Do you know what material it is?" she pulled the bottom of her dress out so Percy can touch.

Percy took it from her hand and felt it carefully. Indeed it was amazingly smooth, but not leather smooth, cotton smooth. It also smelled like frozen honey ambrosia, the one he had seen many wood nymphs wear. It had a strong sense of magic about it, and is very difficult to destroy. Percy smelled it carefully.

"Yes this is cotton bathed in boiled ambrosia, mixed with honey and then frozen in the deep in the bowels of Boreas' north winds. This, Lexi, is a very powerful dress." Percy let go of her dress and retreated, smelling his hand.

"Boreas, god of the north wind?" she smelled the dress again by pulling it up from her chest. Her eyes lit up in pleasure. "Wow it smells amazing!"

"You will also find that it will never stain, never tear, never get smaller or shrink, or larger. No matter what you do to it. Good thing you found a size that fits. Wait a second, I want you to keep wearing it. It's much safer gear than what you were wearing before." Percy advised as he checked his pockets for Riptide, but realized he dispelled its presence by seeking another sword.

"But I'll freeze out at night!" Lexi protested, as she walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "Although, this dress does look amazing on me, don't you think?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Percy replied, loud enough for her to hear, as he sank back into the bed.

"You know, Percy, I like you. Not because you're the Percy Jackson that saved all of us. Not because –" but Percy interrupted.

"I didn't save us all from Kronos." Percy interjected but Lexi didn't stop.

"- you're a good looking. Well, yes, partly that, but not only that. But because you never came onto me like all other guys. Every guy I meet at a party or anywhere I go, all they have the guts to say is that I'm beautiful. I mean, every Aphrodite girl is beautiful. It doesn't really mean anything to me if you say I'm beautiful. I mean, nobody talks to me about anything other than either flirting with me or trying to have sex with me. It just irritates me. And here you come, striding in, drunk from all the drink, and me too, and between every single guy in that tent that had their eyes on me, I saw the most lust in yours." Lexi continued, walking out and looking at him.

"Lexi, look, you don't have to tell me this-" Percy tried to get her to stop but she kept going.

"I wondered why you had loved Annabeth. She was an intellectual woman, not just beautiful. I mean, I thought if you wanted an Aphrodite, you could get her so easily. So I wanted to see what it is to be with you and I didn't regret it, you know? I left you in the morning out of shame that we didn't do it. I thought I had disappointed you. And here we are, talking as if it never happened. I like that. You can be damn sure that if it was another guy, he would've fucked me and laughed about it with all his friends." Lexi shook her head, smiling sarcastically, her white teeth shining in the dim light of the room. She then took a look at Percy and sat on the bed.

"I know there's more to a woman that what's between her legs. And I love that you know that too. That's why I can't keep my eyes off you. Other girls, and maybe even guys, may want only what their lust drives them to do, but you do that and much more. If only there were other guys out there like you." She put her hand on Percy's, and Percy didn't move it.

He was looking at her hand on his, not knowing what to say.

"I don't know what to say, Lexi." He echoed. "I'm flattered that you think of me that way but… I really don't know where to begin."

"I do." She said, and she kissed him. It was a long kiss but time passed very quickly. Then her lips parted from his as if only a split second passed. She then got up and looked out of the window, slipping a coat on over her dress.

Percy sat there staring outside, waiting for night to fall. When it did, he and Lexi got out of the room and went down the elevator. They saw no clerk on the desk, but what greeted them seemed very familiar. It had two sharp, thick horns on it's head, with a huge golden ring pierced into it's nose. It's eyes were blood red, full of rage and bloodlust, and was half a bull, half a man.

It boomed loudly, and then charged.


	5. Love!

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

* * *

Love!

"Run!" Percy yelled, and Lexi did just that. They got out of the elevator just in time before the minotaur smashed through. They exited through the entrance of the building and started running towards the countryside. Lexi, wearing her black coat over her black dress and gladiators on her feet, was keeping up with Percy with ease, Percy noticed. With no weapon, he can't really take on a minotaur at the moment, unprepared.

"Quick! Make for that hollow!" Lexi screamed as she pointed to large hole under a group of trees bunched close together. The entrance of the hollow was too small for the minotaur to enter, and so they would lose it.

Percy started following her lead, turning around to see the minotaur gaining on them quickly. He realized, when berserk, the minotaur will catch up to them, so he told Lexi he'll have to slow it down.

"There's no need for you to go! I'll just do this!" she flung off her coat and it flew in the direction of the minotaur, right into it's horns and blinding it's eyes. This gave them the green light to crouch and enter the hollow.

"Quick!" Percy said desperately as they slowed to a stop near the entrance. He saw the darkness swallow Lexi and realized he should've gone first, but then heard Lexi's voice assuring him it was ok, so he dived into the hole feet first and almost landed on Lexi.

"Where are we?" Percy asked.

"Some kind of tunnel." Lexi looked around, dusting off her dress. The dress was glowing in the darkness, giving it an eerie look. It must be the magic of the dress, Percy thought. He looked around. It smelled increasingly strange. He looked out of the hole the entered from and assured himself the minotaur was gone.

He saw Lexi examine the floor of the tunnel. It was damp soil, Percy realized. He strained himself to hear something but no sounds came. He looked at Lexi and she confirmed his discovery.

"It must be a tomb." Lexi said firmly, looking at Percy. Percy nodded. The smell was obviously not the smell of naturally fertilized soil. It was the smell of bones. And rotting ones at that. Lexi sighed visibly and had a frustrated look on her face.

"Now what? I mean, we can't see anything, and we don't know where this tunnel leads." She complained.

"Don't worry about it. There must be some water in this soil." Percy placed his palm on the soil and slowly the water inside the soil rose to the surface. Slowly, the tunnel became more visible, and they saw not one path, but four, and a little further on they saw a statue.

"A statue of Ares, god of war." Percy approached the statue carefully. It was a large statue and Percy realized how high up the tunnel went. It was probably 3 or so meters in height, and the statue stood that tall. It was Ares in battle position with his trademark helmet on his head. There was a large chest in front of the statue with no lock on it.

Percy heaved the top of the chest open and saw the last thing he expected to see.

"Is it a sword?" Lexi said as she approached.

Percy shook his head. "Not just a sword. Some kind of stone too." He grabbed the stone. It wasn't heavy, but it was the size of his hand. It had a blood reddish color. Lexi grabbed it from him as Percy took the sword out of the chest and raised it above his head.

It was a longsword, that's for sure. It was about1.5 meters in length with the handle, and the handle itself was almost a quarter of a meter. It didn't look like it was made from celestial bronze, but stygian iron. Percy had always felt that stygian iron was more durable than celestial bronze, but he never really was sure.

"Here's the scabbard." Lexi handed him a beautifully decorated scabbard. "I'm wondering though, what does this stone do?" she looked at the stone again.

"I don't know. Keep it with you, it might come in handy. There's a lot of enchanted materials that we don't know about here in Greece. After all, this is our home." Percy told her, equally as fascinated as her at their findings. He was about to close the chest when Lexi stopped him.

"Wait! There's something else!" her hand delved into the chest and extracted a ring. Before Lexi could examine it, Percy grabbed it from her. He looked at the ring. It was golden, with no scratches at all, but what caught his attention was, on the ring, there was a bright blue gem, and two fangs extended from one side of the gem.

"Wow, we've hit a gold mine!" Lexi laughed.

"Yeah, we did. Now, we have to go. They're probably going to wake up anytime soon." Percy slipped the ring on his ring finger on his left hand, and quickly shoved the sword into the scabbard, tying the scabbard around his waist tightly. Then, following the light, he motioned for Lexi to follow him, and they tread lightly, into the darkness.

* * *

Annabeth couldn't sleep. She was in the Athena cabin, right after she bid Percy goodbye. She could see the sun rising from her bedroom window. Sighing again, she fell back into her pillow, trying to sleep. Upon closing her eyes, however, she was confronted by memories that she couldn't escape.

"_Happy 15 month anniversary!" Percy said, smiling. He wasn't wearing anything special, but he had taken her to a really expensive restaurant in the upper east side of New York City. A group of violinists were playing Annabeth's favorite composition: Mozart's KV563 in E flat. She tried not to cry but she couldn't help the tears from flowing. She then planted a wet kiss on Percy's lips affectionately._

"_Happy 15 month anniversary." Annabeth replied, still crying, and hugging Percy tightly. Her make up was going to mess up her eyes now. She took her head off his shoulder and looked at him again. The joy was unmistakable from his eyes. "Thank you so much, Percy."_

"_Anything for you, Annabeth." Percy smiled again, wider than before. "I'm glad you liked it."_

"_I love it." Annabeth smiled as well, but sobbed at the same time. She was never happier in her life than beside the man she was with right now. She felt her phone vibrate in her dress pocket; but it could wait. There was never such a perfect night in her life._

Annabeth opened her eyes, trying to shake the memory away. Percy wasn't with her anymore. But she still didn't know why she felt guilty. She just couldn't sleep. Getting out of the bed quietly, not wanting to wake anybody else in the cabin, she snuck out and walked over to the Poseidon cabin and entered.

* * *

They walked as silently as they could through the darkness with very little light. He spotted a light source in Lexi's hand, which was the stone, but it was a very faint light that barely penetrated a few centimeters in the air, and Percy couldn't see the ring on his finger if he held out his hand in front of him.

They strained to hear noises, but heard nothing, just the light treading of their steps on the soft floor of the tunnel. Lexi grabbed his arm to whisper something into her ear.

"We're not alone." Her eyes slightly panicking.

Percy frowned, then remembered the tombs that they robbed from. They would not be happy. He hurried his pace a bit, until what looked like a small metal gate appeared in front of them. It reached up to the ceiling so it was impossible to climb over it. He pondered on what was behind it, and upon listening very intently, he could hear light, controlled breathing.

Lexi approached the lock on the gate and examined it. It had no keyhole. She looked at the gate as a whole and then looked back at Percy, with a defeated expression on her face. "It's enchanted. By Hephaestus, most probably."

"The lord of the forge." Percy muttered. The gate was probably unbreakable by any object, mortal or enchanted. He tried to put his hand through the bars of the gate but there was a force that pushed his hand back. He glanced back at Lexi, who was hopeful.

"I don't know." Percy told her. He felt defeated. He dropped to the floor near the tunnel wall and sighed.

"What do we do now?" Lexi asked.

He needed some time to think this over. "We wait."

* * *

It was dark inside. Annabeth could hear the water fountain in the living room splashing water into the pool around it. She walked into the living room; it looked like Percy hadn't used it for a long time; since they broke up. She found a picture frame of him and Selena, an Aphrodite, and Annabeth remembered that she had taken it when they went to Miami last summer as a camp.

"_How many are you did you say?" the bouncer yelled over the noise in the club. They were about 20 people, 10 guys and 10 girls, Percy said, and that they were all couples. The bouncer wanted to check for ID. Annabeth, who was wearing a short white dress, turned around and whispered to Selena, who looked smashing in a red dress._

_A few minutes later they found themselves in the most expensive club in Miami. It was certainly worth the trouble. They sat in doubles at tables; Annabeth and Percy sat with Selena and her boyfriend, who was an undetermined in the camp, but guessing by the way he looked he was definitely an Apollo. Percy called for a waiter and started telling him what to get for all the seats._

"_See those 4 other tables there? Yeah, those, I want 4 bottles of Smirnoff Black, with a lot of lemons also. See if they want to get something to eat too, and then give the bill to me. Got it?" the waiter nodded and hurried off._

_After everything came, in a few hours, all the demigods were on the dance floor. The Aphrodites really did outdo themselves, and the ole switcheroo was going around them all as they switched dance partners every new song. For one of the slow jam songs, Annabeth found herself locked with one of the Stoll brothers. She couldn't help but notice Percy, who looked sober, accepting the grinding body of a stunning Aphrodite girl on his groin._

_When the night was over Percy had paid almost two hundred thousand dollars, to the shock of Annabeth._

"_Where did you get all that money?" she looked stern as she stared him down. She was already angry from the way he let the Aphrodite girl grind on him._

"_What d'you mean, where did I get that money?" Percy replied absently, tucking his wallet in his pocket._

"_You know what I mean, Percy." Annabeth gritted her teeth. She couldn't stand him when he was obviously not wanting to answer her question._

_In the hotel room, Annabeth didn't talk to him at all, and promised herself she wouldn't until he answered her. In bed, she was tucked away from him, pretending to sleep when she wasn't._

"_Ok Annabeth if you want to know that bad I'll tell you, okay? Look at me for a second." She turned around in the bed and, her head on her right hand, looked at him with curious eyes._

"_Tell me, then." _

"_Promise you won't be mad, though. They're my gambling winnings." Percy said, his eyes not betraying him. "I won the money from gambling. Now, I invested a lot of it and its increased by a lot."_

"_Gambling?" Annabeth choked, and almost didn't believe him. She never knew Percy gambled! What kind of gambling?_

"_Well, poker mostly, although we never bet mortal money. Usually it's drachma, which I have a lot of too, over a million pieces, at that. The mortal money I got from betting with some people in the Underworld." Percy said carefully, watching her face._

"_I can't believe you Percy." Annabeth shook her head and got out of the bed, looking at him in her nightgown. _

"_What's wrong with it? I'm not in debt to anybody if that's what you're wondering. I took care of that." Percy told her, trying to reassure her._

_Annabeth covered her face for a second, and then grabbed her curly blonde hair and looked at him again in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean, you took care of it?"_

_Percy opened his mouth and then hesitated before answering. He was wondering if he should tell her the truth. Then he realized that Annabeth of all people would know if he was lying. "I used drachma to hire some people to get rid of them." _

_Annabeth turned around, because she expected an answer like that. She looked out of the window, to South Beach. She heard Percy get out of the bed and approach her. He rested his hands carefully on her shoulder._

"_Don't touch me, Percy. You killed them?" she whispered. "I can't believe you would do that."_

"_They're monsters, Annabeth. They're somewhere in the Underworld now. What does it matter? Me and you must've killed a million monsters." Percy couldn't understand why she was so upset._

"_That's exactly why you should kill them! They could come back at anytime and try to kill you!" Annabeth pointed out furiously._

"_Kill me?" Percy chuckled. "And how are they going to do that?" _

_Annabeth gave him a look that would've killed him if he hadn't looked away just in time. She walked away, to the couches near the suite door. It was a large suite, which they had gathered money for as a group. They rented 4 other suites, but seeing as how Percy had that much money, he probably paid for them all._

"_OK, listen Annabeth, I won't gamble anymore, I promise. I don't even have to anymore. I made some smart investments and I don't need to gamble anymore. I'm sorry." Percy apologized sincerely. He sat on the couch in front of her, pulling her to sit beside him._

"_Promise me." Annabeth said, her face close to his._

"_I just did. But I'll promise again, okay, I promise!" Percy promised, a small smile on his face. He kissed her cheek affectionately. "It's okay, baby. Now lets sleep. We're leaving tomorrow."_

She walked up the stairs, into his room. The bed was unmade. She looked at the table beside it, which had nothing but a small golden chain, with a locket. She grabbed it curiously and opened it, and saw a picture of Percy and her, much younger, maybe 14, both smiling. She was 19 years old, and she felt something inside her heart that made her eyes wet.

* * *

After a few hours, Percy sighed. He couldn't think of anything. He looked at Lexi, who was sitting near him, her eyes closed. In a way she reminded him of Annabeth, although their faces looked radically different, their devotion to intellectual pursuits were vaguely similar, although Annabeth was on another level than Lexi.

"Tired?" Percy murmured, turning around to look at her.

"Yeah. I'm a bit thirsty too. What did Hephaestus want more than anything?" she asked suddenly.

Percy shrugged. He was out of ideas on studying Hephaestus' personality. "Something to do with the forge, probably."

"Some kind of element right? Maybe this lock accepts passwords." She got up and walked towards the lock. She started speaking to the lock, and Percy heard words that had no meaning to him, "iridium, platinum…"

He left her to her naming but a few minutes later she shrugged, frustrated. "Every time I say something, the lock shakes as if it's about to fall apart, but it then stops again."

"At least we know it's a password." Percy stood up. "An element. Maybe not something physical? What did Hephaestus want?"

"Well, he's married to Aphrodite, my mom, but she keeps…" she stopped, and her face lit up in triumph. "Love!"

"Love?" Percy frowned, unsure.

But Lexi was already approaching the lock. "Love." She said in ancient Greek, and the lock shook violently. It then burst into nothingness.

"Wow. You're a smart one aren't you?" Percy praised, surprised. "Now take your knife out." He told her as he unsheathed his sword. "I don't want any surprises."

And so they moved again into the darkness, and the breathing grew much, much louder.


	6. Hephaestus' Modus Operandi

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Hephaestus' Modus Operandi

Annabeth stood up and wiped her eyes. She looked at the clock on the wall of Percy's room opposite of his bed: 4:43 AM. She still didn't feel sleepy at all. She decided she would go to the Big House cafeteria. There was a large basement full of liquor and an undead bartender. She didn't usually drink, but when circumstances seemed to be this dire, she had no choice.

She closed the door to Percy's cabin and walked across to the Big House. All the cabins were dark; everyone was sleeping. Except Annabeth. She opened the front door, which was always unlocked, and was greeted by a bright corridor light. She kept walking until she entered the cafeteria. Then, she went behind the kitchen to the stairway that led a couple of floors below the big house.

The wooden door was always open, she noticed. But then, she only came her once before. She used to drink with Percy more than anybody, and maybe some of the other girls in the camp that could handle it. Technically she was not legal, but she was a half-blood. Normal mortal rules didn't apply.

The bartender, a half flesh half skeleton being, with the half flesh being the upper body, smiled at her a disgusting smile as she entered and sat herself on the bar. She told him to surprise her, and he turned around and got to work.

It wasn't a minute before she heard a voice behind her, approaching towards her.

"Annabeth!" she didn't bother turning around to see who it was. It was an Aphrodite girl that came here more regularly than Annabeth, because she was plagued by boredom and insomnia. It was hard to believe that an Aphrodite would be suffering from such things, but apparently, she was.

"Hey Tori." Annabeth replied, without turning around. She soon spotted Tori sit beside her on the next barstool. She was wearing a red dress that came down to mid thigh, with no straps. She was beautifully tanned, her nose was small and smooth, her eyes were big and her hair mildly curly and dirty blonde. Her lips were small but fairly pronounced, and heavenly pink. In other words, she had a stunning figure.

"Heya! What are you doing down in the Underground Pub?" she was holding a glass full of blood red liquid and ice.

"The Underground Pub?" Annabeth replied questioningly.

"That's what Billy here calls it. Isn't that right Billy, the Underground Pub?" she turned to the bartender, Billy, with a puppy face.

"Of course, miss. You have the honor of naming it since you are the one that keeps me in business, see." Billy smiled again and placed a glass with a red liquid in it and a lemon on the side. "One Panties, Miss Annabeth!"

"A Panties?" Annabeth asked, confused. She sipped the drink and decided it was delicious.

"So why are you here, Annabeth? I mean, I'm here because I have nothing to do, but why are you here?" she asked as she finished her drink in one gulp.

"Well, I can't sleep." Annabeth sipped her drink and said. "Kind of like you, I guess."

"You wanna go downtown? There's probably still some clubs open, we can have some fun! What do you say?" Tori ordered another drink.

"Downtown? Now? Tori it's almost morning now. No point in going. Might as well stay here." Annabeth shook her head in disbelief.

"Come on, Annabeth don't give me that. Now listen, I have something to tell you. Lexi went with Percy to who knows where. He took her because Selena told him to. And in the note she said that she owes him one. What do you think she means?" Tori questioned quickly, grabbing her drink and downing it again.

Annabeth was a little taken aback as she ordered another drink because hers finished. "Well, I suppose she's going to…um…I don't know. Any ideas?" Annabeth had an idea but she didn't say it out loud.

"Well, seeing how all the girls want a piece of Percy, I wouldn't say Selena is any different." Tori ordered another one.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked, although she already knew what Tori meant.

"You know what I mean. She wants to jump into bed with him. It's kind of obvious. I mean, she is the only Aphrodite girl that didn't get a chance with him." Tori finished another drink. "Get me some shots, Billy!" she shouted as she slammed her glass onto the wooden bar.

Annabeth didn't reply. All the Aphrodite girls except one had a chance with Percy and that one was Selena? "When did you get with Percy?" she asked instead.

"Me? Oh, well, don't be mad Annabeth, but you and him were broken up so I thought it was ok. I mean, I didn't want to hurt you or anything at all." Tori confessed, looking at her. "I thought I really liked him. I think I still do. He never sucked up to me, which I liked the most about him. I mean, as an Aphrodite, every guy I meet tells me I'm beautiful et cetera. But he didn't, and that's what drew me to him. He was literally the first guy not to say that to me. He actually told me that he thought I was 'more normal than anyone he's ever seen'."

"So you guys…did it?" Annabeth took the first shot and downed it. She started getting drowsy.

"Well, I mean, yeah! What did you expect? From me being me and from him…being him. Its been going on and off for the last 3 or 4 months, but I haven't talked to him in like a couple of weeks or so." She downed another shot.

After a lot of drinking, Tori insisted she'd pay, and she placed a couple of pounds of drachma on the bar. "Thanks,Billy. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Where'd you get all that money?" Annabeth frowned. "That's a lot of drachma."

"I have a job." Tori shook her head to try to see straight, but it was no use.

"Let me guess. A Playboy Bunny? A Maxim model?" Annabeth giggled. It could be true.

"Of course not. How would I get drachma from mortal jobs? No, I'm a dancer. And a pretty good one at that." Tori replied, also laughing.

"Oh yeah? Show me."

* * *

"Be cautious, the breathing is getting louder." Percy told Lexi. She was gripping her dagger firmly, surveying the space she was walking into carefully. Percy, an experienced swordsman, knew not to grip the sword too tight. It would get sweaty and it might slip from his hands. The sword was gripped lightly in his hand, ready to strike.

"You call that breathing? Sounds more like squeaking." Lexi shook her head doubtfully. "If that's breathing then I'm an Apollo." She grunted.

Percy didn't reply, listening. Now that he concentrated it did sound more like squeaking than breathing. Scraping, actually. More scraping tham breathing. He wasn't really the type to think in situations like this. He looked towards Lexi and she was frozen in space, clearly focusing on the sound. She then turned to him and mouthed, "Machines".

"Then this is the place." Percy whispered. "I'll scout ahead. Stay a couple of meters behind me. Don't go in front of me until I say so."

Lexi nodded and crouched. Percy went ahead. He kept a brisk pace, because the sounds were getting eerily stranger, and he didn't want to be jumped by machines. If this was indeed where Hephaestus guarded his ore, then he would do better than to avoid a fight with the machines.

He stopped suddenly and felt a body crash into him from behind. Instinctively he raised his sword and turned around with lightning speed, ready to slash, but stopped when he saw Lexi's face, full of terror at him.

"It's me!" Lexi whispered, afraid.

"I thought I told you to stay a few meters behind me?" Percy hissed. "It's ok. Listen, come right beside me now. Keep your shoulder onto mine." Lexi stood up and brushed her left shoulder with his right. "Like that."

A few more minutes of agonizing sneaking passed, until they spotted a dim bronze light at the end of the tunnel. Reaching the source, they realized it was a large door, with a huge handle right in the middle. It looked like it was made of bronze, from what the color of it was.

"Wow." Percy said. How were they supposed to open this door? He touched the handle with his left hand and pushed down, but it wouldn't budge. He sheathed his sword and tried with both hands, but it still wouldn't move from it's rigid position.

"If you can't move it, I don't think of anybody else who can." Lexi said, looking in his eyes.

"I can." Percy grunted. He was physically powerful, as it was common strength for a half blood to easily overcome mortals in any test of physical strength. He, however, was no match for the Cyclops in physical strength. "If only my half brother was here."

"The Cyclops?" Lexi smiled, shaking her head. "I meant someone like us. You know, half blood? Anyways, I don't think this door should be opened by force." Lexi's dagger disappeared from her hand when she touched her dress with it, and began examining the door with her hands. The squeaking was louder than ever now.

Percy sighed and sat down at the solid wall adjacent to the door. This was a dead end, except for the door. Going back the way they came wouldn't get them anywhere. "If anything happens it'll be my fault."

"Nonsense. This has been a lot of fun. It was getting boring staying at camp all the time. Nothing on you, though, but I thought the trip to Madagascar was amazing." Her eyes flashed towards him then back onto the door.

Percy didn't reply immediately. He then asked, "How do you know all this stuff? Like about Lemnos, about the black crystal, all the words you were saying to the lock?" he scanned her body just to double check that she was indeed an Aphrodite and not a Hephaestus.

"It helps if you went out with a Hephaestus for a year." She said, turning around to see the look on his face. "Oh, don't give me that look. You dated an Athena."

"So? I mean, they're smart, but…" Percy didn't want to say it.

"Obnoxious about their smartness. I know what you mean. Us mortals can't understand them. Their egos are too large." Lexi shrugged, as she took her hands off the door. "Let's see if the stone does anything?" she suggested and took the stone out from her dress pocket.

She held it up high and started looking at the door from various angles. Then her face lit up and she said, "Wow! This stone is amazing!" She pocketed it again and then took out her knife. She walked to the side of the door and stabbed the door. Percy stood up in alarm, but he then heard 3 distinct clicks, each one a different pitch and volume. Then, suddenly the door started moving into the wall, opening up the path.

A sharp silver light shone on their eyes. Percy tried to look but his eyes were too damaged from the brightness of the light. Only when the door fully opened and receded into the wall did Percy finally see what he was looking at. It was a large statue, from what Percy guessed about 9 meters high, and made of bronze.


	7. Parting Ways

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

* * *

Parting ways

"So that's why you've been down at the pub for the past few weeks? You actually like Percy?" Annabeth asked, half intoxicated, half serious. They had gone back to the Aphrodite Cabin where Annabeth had a change of clothes, into something more suitable for clubs, and proceeded to go downtown to Club 912. The owner of the club was a son of Dionysus, god of wine and drunken glory. They were now at the bar, having shots, screaming at each other so that they could hear each other over the music.

Tori shrugged, attempting to show that she couldn't care less. "It's over now, there's nothing going on. I don't know what's gotten into him." She downed a shot of thick, black liquid. Then her pupil's appeared to glow with pleasure.

"What's that shot?" Annabeth asked curiously.

Tori took a few seconds to recover. "Nothing you can't handle. A special recipe of Dionysus, god of drunken revelry. Bane of Artemis, they call it, because it can even induce a virgin to make love!" she laughed loudly, and Annabeth laughed with her.

When she tried the shot, it felt as if her eyes had melted in their sockets, and reformed again. It was incredibly pleasure inducing, like nothing she had ever felt before. She looked back at Tori, who was still laughing, white teeth shining in the club's flashing lights. At that moment they simultaneously took to the dance floor for what seemed like an eon.

Eventually time caught up to them. It was indeed the sun that they saw rising when they walked back onto the Camp Half-Blood territory, holding their high heels in their hands and giggling at anything that came up in their conversation. The sand felt nice and warm between their tired toes, and they decided to walk over to the beach, and just lie down and see the sunrise.

"Apollo has quite a sight for us this morning, huh Tori?" she said as she laid her head down on the warm sand.

"Quite a sight." Tori agreed as she unzipped her dress and placed it beside her. She sighed a brief sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. "Sleep doesn't come easily anymore."

"It sure doesn't." Annabeth looked at her sadly. She wasn't sleeping that well either lately. And she didn't think Percy was either, for that matter.

"I haven't slept in 3 weeks, Annabeth." Tori looked at her with tired eyes. "Maybe I should just get away for a bit…take some of my sisters with me. Something like the Madagascar trip. But for a bit longer. A lot longer actually."

"But where? Where do you want to go?" Annabeth asked, her interest piqued.

"Who cares? Let's go to Greece, or to California, or to Brazil! I don't know, just somewhere far from here, for quite a long time. I need some time to think about what I want in my life, and I don't think it's gonna come from me sitting here drinking every night. We'll pack light. I've saved up some drachma. There's no where we can't go." She stood up, and looked down at Annabeth.

"I'll do it." Annabeth said, "I'll come with you. I'm sick of it too. Maybe if I get away from Percy for a while it'll…get easier." She stood up as well.

"Want to wash off?" Tori asked as she walked towards the water, down the shore.

* * *

Quick as lightning, Percy drew his sword and dodged the first blow of the machine as it swiped with it's hand. It was so large, Percy had his doubts that he could ever defeat it. It paid no attention to Lexi, as she ran behind it deeper inwards into the cave. Percy dived and dodged as fast as he could with a sword drawn, but the machine gave him no chance to recover and assess the situation. He could feel a great power around him, like a huge bass of a song, sounding constantly. It was so powerful that he had a strong temptation to drop the sword and put his hands on his ears.

"Use the stone, Lexi!" he shouted in no direction in particular. He drew off the monster deeper into the cave, he knew, but he had not an inkling of an idea on where Lexi was. He doubted the sword that he held would do any damage, unless it hit a critical spot, the same way Lexi opened the door.

"I'm trying, but you're moving too much!" she screamed. "Try to keep it still! I can't see anything!"

And so Percy tried. It seemed as if the monster would never grow tired. Percy, with his Curse of Achilles, never grew tired in the heat of battle, never drew scratches from swords, and had higher volume senses, made for war. However this was no ordinary fight. Despite the size of the machine, it was incredibly agile, especially for something made out of pure celestial bronze.

The machine swiped again, and Percy saw his chance. He threw the sword in the air, as high as he could. The machine involuntarily tried to swipe at it, distracted, while Percy leaped as high as he could on the leg of the machine. It was incredibly hot, so hot Percy did not think he could handle it.

"Use it!" Percy yelled.

The machine noticed him and started swiping at it's own feet. Percy jumped upwards and grabbed, dodging the slowing swipes of the machine, as it missed Percy and it's blows collided with it's own leg, the result being huge jets of steam being released from it, angering it even more.

"It's back, Percy, it's got a button on it's back that will deactivate it!" Lexi shouted towards him. "Quick!"

"Lexi, throw your knife at it!" Percy yelled.

She didn't reply, so Percy assumed she was going to attempt what he suggested. This time, he was too slow, and the machine grabbed him and raised him in front of it's face. It was a faceless machine, with a head the shape of a helm of war, but no eyes, and no blood.

"Lexi, fast!" Percy was being crushed slowly but surely, and he could not hold out much longer against such a machine. He felt his muscles being slowly compressed by the intense heat of the machine, the pain more agonizing than anything he ever felt. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

The machine froze, then opened it's hand, and while Percy fell out, it stood in a firm position in front of him. Lexi was by his side almost immediately and hugged him, and he felt her relatively cold skin cool his burning one.

"That was close. Incredibly close." Percy said as Lexi was still hugging him. Suddenly, the deafening emanating power of the room came back to his ears as he strained to not put his fingers in them. "Did you find the crystal?"

Lexi let go of him immediately and said, "Yes. But we have to open the seal. And we don't have the key."

"The key? What key? You spoke of no key, Lexi." Percy proclaimed, as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Not any type of key, I think. It needs a more valuable opener." Lexi said as she guided Percy to the small pillar through a small flight of stairs where there lay a black stone, more beautiful than any stone Percy had ever seen. As he gazed in it, he felt his eyes pain from the purity of it's color, and the chiseled edges that formed it. He reached out his hand…

"Percy, don't! I told you, it needs a key!" Lexi tried to pull his hand back, but there was no stopping it. As it reached towards the crystal, Percy felt a force push against his hand. And only an inch away from the remarkable stone, he could not reach any further. It was deafening, being so close yet so far.

_The great power you seek, of the stone black…_

_Once used, it shall never be taken back…_

_Locked within, a power immeasurably strong…_

_But a price must be paid, for a time very long…_

_Your blood, the first price, for loyalty's sake…_

_Your secrets, torn apart, forever lost…_

_Your memories, hidden away, locked…_

_Yourself, dead, now reborn…_

_Thus is the power of the stone…_

Percy turned around to see who was talking, but nobody was there except Lexi. He then heard the voice again, repeating what it had just said. He looked to Lexi, who had the same bewildered look on her face. Percy could not help but reach for the stone again, to hear the same words again and again.

"It refuses to be grabbed." Percy said angrily, and swore, walking away from the pillar. It was indeed all for nothing.

"You heard what I heard, Percy." Lexi said, a hint of fear in her voice. "the price you pay for the stone is great."

"But think of the power one has to wield it! It's like immortality! I must have it!" Percy said frantically, running up the stairs again and reaching out his hands. "What does the stone offer to require such a price? Immortality, no doubt. Great strength, I'm sure. Both of which were offered to me by Zeus, King of the Gods."

"It will refuse to be handled, but it can be bagged. We can take it back to camp and see what the Hephaestus kids can do with it." Lexi said.

"Yes, that's right. But Hephaestus will be looking for us. Better for us to not go back so soon. If only…yes, it should do the trick, I presume." Percy picked up his sword and approached the stone. Placing his right hand over it, he cut into his palm, only to not be affected. He cursed himself. He should have known the Curse of Achilles would stop him some day.

"Fine, bag it, and let's go Lexi. We've overdone out stay here. The god of the forge will be on the lookout. Not that I won't be. Sleep has been hard to come by as of late." He looked to Lexi as she ripped off a piece of her dress and covered the stone with it, and Percy felt a huge relief on his ears. As sudden as death, he heard the scraping of stone on stone as a door opened itself at the end of the cave.

"How convenient." Percy commented, as the blinding sunlight greeted his eyes.

* * *

"How much did you pack?" Tori asked, as she walked into her room in the Athena cabin.

"Some clothes, weapons, and tools. You know, just in case. And some drachma." Annabeth replied, sitting on her bed. "What about you?"

"Same. Some pictures as well, to keep us company on the road." Tori nodded.

"Is anybody else coming?" Annabeth inquired.

"No. They didn't take me seriously. They're all caught up in something they don't want to leave, and I think I can understand that. I don't mind if it's just the two of us. Do you?" Tori glanced at her from looking out the window.

"No, I don't mind." Annabeth said truthfully. "Any idea where we're going?"

"Mexico. I heard their beaches are quite something. I've made arrangements along the way. Being connected in the Underworld has a lot of perks." Tori smiled mischievously.

Annabeth laughed. "That's great, now we're talking. Should we tell Chiron that we're leaving?"

"We're adults. We can do whatever we want. We don't need his consent. Leave a note if you like, that's what I'm doing. Selena isn't gonna be happy, but whatever. I need this." Tori shrugged as she sat beside Annabeth on her bed.

"Well, I'm cabin leader. So I don't really have anyone to write to. I have to appoint someone new, I guess." Annabeth decided.

"Write one for Percy." Tori suggested.

Annabeth didn't reply. She didn't know when Percy was coming back. She might as well write something and leave it in his cabin.

She walked towards her desk and ripped a piece of paper from her architecture notebook. _Dear Percy_, she wrote,

_I don't know when you'll be reading this, and I don't know if you'll want to know what happened to me when you read this, but I'm leaving Camp Half-Blood. I don't know when I'll come back, if ever. I don't know if I'll ever see you again. And I definitely don't know where I'll be when you read this. I just know that you're the only person that cares about me other than myself and Tori. We're heading towards Mexico first. Maybe when you come back we'll be in Belize. Or maybe we'll meet somewhere in between in the world. I know that it's been crazy lately, but I feel like I have to walk away now before I let my feelings get the best of me, and I know that you've been thinking the same thing, because we're pieces of each other. _

_I miss you, Seaweed Brain,_

_Annabeth Chase._

She folded the letter and Tori followed her as she walked to Percy's cabin and put it on his bed. She almost shed a tear because she might never see him again. Then she sobbed quietly as she fixed the bed from the mess from the night before.

Tori smiled at her when she got out, and wiped her tears from her cheek. "Come on, sister. Mexico's waiting."


	8. Nighttime

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

Night-time

Perseus Jackson took out the small pouch in which the crystal was contained. He was getting impatient: they had made another stop in order to recuperate and go back to Camp Half-Blood. With an eerie feeling, Percy felt he was no longer going to be mortal after the prescribed threads of the Fates have been woven for him, and it gave rise to a mental pain that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It might be the emptiness that lay within him after he and Annabeth separated; however, in such a situation, it could be a multitude of things.

As soon as he opened the pouch an inch he felt the incredible power emanating from the small crystal. It did not seem of this Earth: if such a powerful thing existed in nature, he was sure that the gods would have utilized it for their own weapons. No, it seems as if the gods tried to harness it, but could not. Or would not, since this stone could be more powerful than the Olympians: even when Percy met Zeus, he was not deafened by the emanating power of the king.

He closed the pouch immediately after he realized that Lexi was still sleeping. He let her sleep longer than 12 hours: he felt that she needed it after what happened. Although she seemed like she could defend herself, he did not want to take any chances and sleep, lest there be something waiting to strike nearby.

He gripped the pouch and tried to squeeze it to feel for the crystal. However, it felt as if there was nothing inside the pouch, which may have been the enchantment placed on it. He assumed it was given as a gift to Lexi from one of her lovers, to hide whatever she felt did not have to be found. Percy understood the feeling, and felt a new respect for Lexi. By his original assumptions he had thought she was another Aphrodite: beautiful, breathtaking, just like her mother, but also infatuated with beauty and love, just like her mother. Though such aspects of a demigod are pleasing, they cannot always be beneficial in situations like this.

There were exceptions of course. Selena, the leader of the Aphrodite cabin, was a more than capable leader for the cabin. She was more mature than any of the others, and her relationships with other demigods have not been completely opportunistic. Percy liked to think the best of her, always, because he knew she was reliable. Besides, she was the one that set him up with Lexi, who has been very helpful.

He stood up and looked outside the room window. He just noticed the falling darkness overtake day. There were no clouds in the sky, there were no lights ahead. They would be noticed. Percy quickly turned off the last remaining light in the room, which was a small lamp near the bed Lexi was sleeping in. Looking out into the night, he stopped his breathing, and felt his heart beat loudly against his chest.

He felt a presence, but it was no monster.

* * *

Tori called Annabeth from the top of a small hill. "I think we're almost there! I can almost see the lake, we're probably a few miles away." She was wearing hiking shorts and her curly blonde hair was straightened and tied in a ponytail. Her tanned, golden brown skin was sparkling in the sunlight.

Annabeth felt good that she was moving this vigorously again. She hadn't done so since the final quest both she and Percy undertook, which felt like ages ago now. Time seemed to pass by so slowly when you weren't having fun. She jogged towards Tori and ran up the hill swiftly. She placed her hand above her eyes to block the powerful sun and gazed in the direction Tori was looking. It was the lake alright. They were very far from the camp now, but they hadn't bumped into any trouble so far.

It's been almost 2 weeks on the road. She knew they were somewhere in the middle of the mainland of the US, still quite far from Mexico. They couldn't progress too quickly: they had limited resources, and wanted to conserve their energy for any dangers they would encounter in the wild.

Eventually they stopped by the shore of the lake and set camp. It provided some cool winds in the hot night. Their enchanted tents will not be spotted or smelt by the local wildlife, so they were safe for the time being. Tori quickly slept as soon as she laid her head down on the pillow. She hadn't even undressed, and she seemed dirty from the journey.

Annabeth didn't sleep immediately. She took out her diary from her backpack and took out a regular pen. She kept the diary unenchanted: she suspected that most people would expect her to enchant it, thus hiding its true contents, but not enchanting it will seem like a bluff, since there were no 'true contents' other than what she was actually writing. Of course, the person reading will never know that these are the true contents.

She put her pen down and wrote swiftly:

_Day 12,_

_I suspect we are in West Virginia: we seem to travel quite fast, but are protected by the Mist. The true destination of this journey has yet to come: Mexico seems to be about a month away at our pace. I am in no hurry. I am needed elsewhere, but I do not intend to return. Surely some of my family will see it as rebellious action, but I am not willing to return just yet. I have plenty of time to fulfill my mother's dreams._

_I wonder about Percy. He should be back from his short quest by now. I don't know what he was looking for, or what he wants to find, although I strongly expect him to have succeeded in his mission. If he actually needed help, I know he would've asked me to accompany him, not Lexi. Although she definitely has the looks of a daughter of Aphrodite, she seems quite unique in the way she looks at things. _

She stopped writing and put the diary in her backpack and blew out the candle to fall into a swift, dreamless sleep.

* * *

The presence was becoming more pronounced. He wondered if Lexi felt it, as he glanced worryingly towards her. The night seemed to halt in time, and he felt the presence become even stronger. He was starting to get a headache. He considered taking out his weapon, the sword from the cave, but had a gut feeling that it would be of no use in a fight with this power.

Percy stood up and looked outside the window. There were no monsters. If there were, they would be here by now. They have an uncanny sense of smell, and can smell Percy from miles away. Being a son of Poseidon has its perks, but also has its major disadvantages. He relaxed slightly. His logic seemed to point to the fact that, if there were monsters, they would have surely attacked by now.

"Why so tense, Perseus Jackson?" he heard a voice, a woman, but there was no one around. He looked at Lexi again, but she was still fast asleep. Before he could conjure another thought, the voice spoke again.

"She cannot hear. She is not who I wish to speak to." The voice was calm and beautiful, it carried a melody of a cold night in the forest: insects calling, animals scuffling in the bushes, owls perched upon a tree branch.

"Who are you?" Percy thought, then reconsidered the question. "What are you?"

"Many do not get the pleasure to ask such a question. You can stop looking around: you will only see me when you fully appreciate the beauty of the night." The voice said teasingly.

"The beauty of the night?" Percy thought wildly. He paused, and noticed that they were speaking in Ancient Greek, by which he noticed the emphasis she placed on the word 'night'. "You cannot be…"

"The night? I am." The sound replied, and Percy looked into the darkness and thought he pictured a smile from the voice.

"You must have a reason for visiting me, Nyx." Percy told her with his mind.

"Of course I must have a reason. I do not waste my time with mortals. It is unsanitary." The voice seemed to hum with laughter. "I see you have found a stone, and have done well to hide it, but you cannot hide it for long from me."

"Stone? You mean the red stone Lexi found? It was quite useful, now that you mention it." Percy said.

"Not that. The stone you have in your pocket. Do not feign ignorance to me, mortal." The voice grew a little serious.

Percy hesitated. He would not want to risk losing the stone. However, how can he run away from Nyx? She _was_ the night itself. He then nodded to nobody in particular.

"How did you retrieve it? I want to know everything." Nyx demanded.

Percy then told her of how he decided that he needed a new sword, and that Chiron had told him about the black crystal stone that could forge a powerful weapon. Lexi told him of Lemnos, and they retrieved it from Hephaestion.

"Brave, and also foolish. I expected no less of you, Perseus." Nyx commented, and Percy assumed it was a praise and looked around.

"You know of the black crystal? It is not yours, is it? If so, I apologize." Percy said. "It was mostly an impulsive decision to come."

"I understand, Perseus. You have become a bigger tourist of the night, since you have not slept in a long time. I know everything, Perseus. You need not repeat why you cannot sleep. My son Hypnos cannot claim responsibility over you, as you have fallen out of favor with him." Nyx told him.

"Hypnos? God of sleep? What have I done to alienate him?" Percy asked curiously.

"You have not slept." Nyx replied simply.

"Isn't that supposed to be his job?" Percy frowned.

"Not nearly. Hypnos no longer has control over you, and that is why you do not sleep so easily." Nyx snorted. "In any case, Chiron was reckless to tell you to retrieve this stone. He does not know what he is dealing with, so to speak."

"What is he dealing with, exactly? Are you my enemy?" Percy questioned suspiciously.

"If I was, would I be toying with you? I do not toy with toys, mortal. Only with gods." Nyx snapped.

"Some would think I am worthy." Percy said boldly.

There was a silence. Then Nyx said, "Foolish to speak such words, little mortal. I shall ignore what you have said, but I will not forget. Heed my warning. You know not what you tamper with. Return the stone, lest you desire death more than glory."

Percy heard a huge gasp of breath, and suddenly it was day again. Nyx must have taken him to her realm, where it was always night. He saw Lexi looking towards him, some worry evident on her face.

"You were talking about the crystal, weren't you?" Lexi asked as she got out of the bed to stand and face Percy.

He hesitated. Not telling Lexi did not seem like a bad idea to Percy. "It was just a dream, Lexi."

She narrowed her eyes, as if seeing through his lie. A brief moment later she looked away and made for the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Percy was so startled by her reaction he almost fell off his chair.

She exited the bathroom 15 minutes later with mildly wet hair, wearing a pair of shorts and a Camp Half-Blood sleeveless shirt. Percy had half a mind to take a shower now, but realized it would probably do him no good. She walked over to him and placed her hand in front of him.

"Yes?" Percy inquired.

"The crystal. Give it to me, Percy." Lexi said, with an edge to her voice.

"Lexi, just calm down. I'll give it to you." Percy tried to soothe her. He took out the small bag from his pocket and handed it over to Lexi.

She quickly placed it in her short pocket, still looking at Percy. "Where to now? Camp?"

Percy looked at her intently and started thinking. Nyx had come to him with no useful warning. He would not return the stone. He believed this stone had true power, a type he had never seen or felt before. Why had such a power come to him? Why had Chiron suggested the crystal? He could know the true extent of the power, though he doubted it. If Nyx herself came to him, Chiron seemed to be in the dark on this.

However, there were three immortals Percy knew that had definitely put the stone in his hands. _The Fates, they decreed that I should have the stone_, Percy thought. Percy had his doubts about the Fates; they seemingly decree everything that will happen before it happens, but why make the second Great War with Kronos so circular? And with his retrieval of the crystal, he could not imagine the Fates knowing the true power that lies within the crystal, the way Percy felt it.

"Lachesis. I want to have a word." Percy stood up and patted her on the shoulder and walked past her towards the door of the room.

"The Fates? What are thinking about, Percy?" Lexi looked utterly confused.

"Do you know of any other thread spinners?" Percy chuckled, and opened the door wide for her.


	9. The Sight Mirror

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

The Sight Mirror

Percy was on the Lemnos shore, Lexi a bit behind. He swayed his hand over the water to command it to form a boat, and it did, in almost an instant. He had a vague idea where the temple of the Fates was, and he did not for a second assume it was in New York. The Fates were different than the Olympians: they decree the fates of others while they say nothing for themselves.

Percy wondered on this little fact. Indeed, the Fates have every opportunity to abuse their power; the strings that are woven cannot possibly act under their own will, it must be the will of the Fates. It seemed extremely dangerous to Percy that his fate and the fate of those that he loves are decided by 3 immortals that are completely detached from the living world.

As sudden as death, his vision became black and he could no longer control his physical form. He found himself in an endless expanse of blackness, but he could see faint points of light in the distance, very far away. He was wondering how he came to be in such a place when he considered that he might have died.

He had no time to ponder on that thought, as felt a presence all around him. He felt it closing in on him slowly, until he heard a rumbling in his head that was unintelligible. The rumble persisted, and then stopped harshly, giving way for eerie silence. Then a whisper came to his mind. He knew they were words, but he could not understand them.

In this confusion, he was vulnerable. He felt a presence enter his mind, more powerful than any presence he has witnessed. He fought it as hard as he could. He couldn't imagine what such a powerful being could do with him if it took control of him. At first, his defense was strong, yet slowly but surely the power was far too great for him to handle. As it crushed his defences, he heard a girl's voice, saying something he heard a long time ago…

… "_What if it lines up like it did in the Trojan War … Athena versus Poseidon?"_ Percy heard himself say.

"_I don't know. But I just know that I'll be fighting next to you."_ He heard Annabeth's voice.

"_Why?"_

"_Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"_

…

Percy felt like his mind was no longer under his control, when he was suddenly looking at Lexi's worried face, as she was yelling in agony at him.

"What is happening to you, Percy?" Lexi said, holding his head off the sand.

"My anger…it will kill me some day. I was almost taken. It was a force more powerful than anything I have ever experienced before." Percy held onto Lexi as she lifted him up. He felt extremely tired, and that out of body experience didn't really help alleviate his stress.

"You need to rest, Percy. You've been up and down a lot since Annabeth and you split up. I … heard what you said. Only Annabeth calls you Seaweed Brain. When did it happen?" Lexi was looking at him thoughtfully.

Percy looked back at her, hoping she didn't notice the great weakness that revolved around his mind. "A long time ago. Those are the kinds of words that you never forget, it seems."

"You've served the gods you're whole life. Maybe your true reward is a really long holiday." Lexi joked, smiling at him.

"Yeah, servitude really has it's advantages." Percy joked sarcastically, smiling back. "C'mon, let's go. The Fates are waiting in their Temple."

* * *

Annabeth and Tori were making quite good progress. Their treks were becoming longer than usual, and as a result they were sweating much more than usual. It was kind of weird that they didn't encounter any trouble yet, since everything was going quite smoothly. Annabeth had predicted that they reached the southern border of Western Virginia, and moving fast down to the state of Tennessee.

"Tennessee, huh?" Tori eyed Annabeth sarcastically.

"Yeah…"Annabeth replied, her mouth breaking into a smile.

"Are you serious? Are we already that far?" Tori stopped walking and looked at Annabeth with a confused look on her face.

"Well, I'm just estimating. We're not in Tennessee; we're just approaching it really fast. Maybe we're just too fast for the monsters!" Annabeth joked.

"Yeah, well, if any monsters show up, you're the one to deal with them." Tori snorted.

"Alright. You should learn how to fight though. The problem is that you don't have any weapons, or anything. I could give you my knife, but then I'd have no weapon." Annabeth took out a short blade, 10 inches long. It was curved like a banana, but irresistibly thin and light. It was made out of celestial bronze, and was forged by Annabeth when she snuck into Hephaesus' workshop when Hephaestus was on Olympus.

"Wow! That's some knife. Who forged it for you, Hephaestus?" Tori looked amazed and reached her hand out to lay her finger on the stomach of the wide blade.

"Just don't touch the edges. They're sharper than they look." Annabeth warned.

"Does it have an enchantment on it?"

"It does. It has a slight chance to instantly kill whoever it stabs."

Tori retracted her hand and looked at Annabeth in bewilderment. "What? Is the even possible? What if you don't want to kill the person, just severely injure them?"

"Then just slice, don't stab." Annabeth replied seriously.

"How did you even enchant it like that? You couldn't have possibly known the enchantment?" Tori replied, even more serious.

Annabeth didn't reply immediately. _She will find out eventually_, she thought. "Percy did it. Don't ask me how he did. I'm fairly certain he didn't do the enchantment himself."

"Percy? Don't be…so sure, Annabeth. It is possible he did it." Tori said quietly.

"Why do you say so?" Annabeth replied sharply.

"Well, he could have learned a thing or two from Hades from our visits to the Underworld." Tori said, her voice getting smaller.

"Visits to the Underworld? What are you talking about, Tori?" Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

"When me and Percy had our…thing, we kinda sorta visited the Underworld a few times." Tori smiled really small smile.

"But…how? How could you possibly 'visit' the Underworld?" Annabeth asked, truly curious.

"It's not like you and he didn't do it before! I've heard him talk about it. Oh, nevermind. I shouldn't have said anything." Tori said, exasperated, and looked away.

"Look, Tori, I understand that you and him had something. But don't let that stop you from telling me what Percy is capable of doing. Never let that stop you. I've been sensing a disturbance in him for a long time. He served the gods, yes, but now that the conflict is over, I can't say he's their biggest fan." Annabeth said the last part slowly.

New curiosity illuminated Tori's eyes. "What do you mean? You don't think he'll betray them?" she whispered.

Annabeth considered that, and slowly shook her head. "He has no desire for vengeance. It's just that he has a personal feud with one or two of the Olympians."

"To be honest, I'm surprised the gods let him live. He's so powerful for a demigod." Tori commented.

"Well, it's not like they didn't try." Annabeth chuckled.

Tori gave her an alarmed look. "I really don't want to know, but I think I have to."

"Zeus called a vote. The reason they wanted to kill him was because there was a prophecy that a child of the Big Three has it in his power to destroy Olympus should he or she turn 16. Thalia became a huntress of Artemis that day, and that ruled out Percy as the one that is most likely to fulfill the prophecy." Annabeth recalled.

"Ok. What happened? How come they didn't kill him?" Tori demanded.

"His father, Poseidon. He gave his word to Zeus that Percy will not destroy Olympus." Annabeth answered promptly.

"They would have killed him otherwise?" Tori's eyes were big.

"I believe so, yes. They don't much think into the future much, only that they are quite arrogant enough to believe that they could defeat Kronos on their own." Annabeth shrugged and started walking again.

"And what you're basically saying is that Percy might have fallen out of favor on Olympus?" Tori followed.

"That. What's just as likely is that Olympus has fallen out of favor with Percy." Annabeth smiled at her.

* * *

"It doesn't look too much fun, being controlled like that." Lexi commented after Percy described to her exactly what happened to him.

Percy didn't reply immediately. He wasn't so sure what to make of the situation right now. He would search for the Fates, and eventually will find them. Nothing usually stays hidden from him for long.

"I don't think anyone is fond of being a pawn. I assure you, many would rather be knights." Percy replied.

They left Lemnos with the same boat that they arrived on. Percy directed it towards Delphi, where he suspected the Fates would lie for him to get the answers he wanted. Things are changing now; visions, dreams, Nyx? Never has such an old god interfered with anything mortals do. But Percy knew better. He must have some sort of connection with Nyx or one of the older gods, and to have such a connection he must be worthy.

"Why didn't you accept Zeus' immortality?" Lexi asked as they both looked outwards into the green water.

Percy didn't answer immediately. He didn't want to say the reasoning that came to his mind when he was faced with the decision on Olympus. Between Annabeth's eyes and Zeus came a vicious tug of war; Zeus was doing his duty has King of the Gods: there was no higher reward than being offered a place beside the gods.

But Zeus knew Percy wouldn't have accepted it. As it seemed to Zeus, Percy was too good, and for that, he was too dangerous. Son of his older brother, Poseidon, he seemed not to care particularly for other demigods too much, other than his daughter Thalia. But he saw a danger in Percy that no other god saw, even Athena. The Fates must have told him _something_.

And of course, Percy didn't accept it. He couldn't imagine Annabeth's face. He couldn't imagine seeing Annabeth die and him living on. Heracles took the immortality because Zeus was the only family and the only person he had left. Everybody was taken from him. That didn't happen to Percy. Not yet.

"Would you have taken it?" Percy replied with a question, raising his eyebrow and smiling lightly.

"Don't avoid the question, Seaweed Brain." Lexi chuckled, punching him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I was about to answer! Would you have taken it, knowing that eventually someone you have come to care about so much is going to die, while you live on forever? No, I don't think you would have. I await my death happily, and I don't want to go to the Underworld. I want eternal rest. I don't want life after death. It would be too painful, to die, knowing that I could have avoided death." Percy explained, as clearly as he could.

"Is there such a thing? No life after death? I thought everybody goes to the Underworld after they die." Lexi asked.

"There are greater powers than the gods, Lexi. Greater, even, than the Titans themselves. It is not blasphemous if it's true. No god could hold me like I was held just now, and when we were on Lemnos. It is connected to the crystal we retrieved, but I can assure you, that this is _not_ about swords and wars. I am searching for something that is beyond the gods, and it is not necessarily power."

Lexi looked at him, bewildered. She had thought deeply about what Percy had said before she met him. There must be forces more powerful than the Titans, because she could see bright stars in the night sky, none of which belonged to Apollo. She then noticed Percy looking back at her curiously.

"Don't dwell on it too much, Lexi. There is still time. But I assure you, nothing is decided yet."

* * *

They had found an inn through the Mist that no one else could see: Impish Inn for Imps, and it was run by a creature that had large, bat-like wings, a human face with tiny horns, and an extremely small body, all coloured blood red, and had a really high-pitched voice.

The inn looked like a large mansion that is the typical home of a multi-millionaire, yet designed in such a fashion that all creatures that had made a living in the Underworld would design it in such a way. The influence of the architecture of the Underworld was undeniable.

"We'd like a room." Tori said to the imp.

"Why, of course! You can pay after you leave, worry not. Let me give you the key!" the imp ducked under the front desk and retrieved a peculiar looking key with weird looking stones all over it. Annabeth doubted it could open anything by turning.

"Choose any room! You will be charged more the more spacious the room is, so be careful! Oh, and breakfast ends at 9! Enjoy your stay!" The imp returned to the papers on his desk.

Annabeth surveyed the place as they walked up the wide flight of stairs. "It's not so bad. Underworld architecture, that's for sure, but still respectable. The structure also seems enchanted, which is good for us."

"Can it with the analysis, Annabeth. Pick a room first so I can take a shower!" Tori looked around the floor helplessly. There were 20 rooms, 9 on each side, and two at the end of the hallway.

"Let's take the suites!" said Annabeth. "We have more than enough drachma."

They opened the door to the suite with the key by simply placing the key on the 'handle', if that's what a skull wearing a baseball cap is called. They unpacked their stuff and decided to go shopping tomorrow, and they both undressed while Tori went into the shower.

"Why don't you join me?" Tori asked Annabeth as she covered herself in a towel from the bathroom.

"Sure, just give me a second. What is this mirror?" Annabeth asked as she saw a wide mirror on a dress cupboard. It was shining on the edges, and seemed to be of a golden coloured glass. It was nothing like Annabeth had ever seen before. She saw her bare self in a golden light, as well as Tori.

She slowly extended her hand to touch it, when Tori had touched it first.

The image in the mirror changed. A fog had enveloped the mirror, and Annabeth suddenly heard sounds of ocean waves going back and forth from the point of view of a ship in the water. As the fog cleared, she saw an extremely familiar boat, with an extremely familiar pair of people she knew.

"That's Percy!" Annabeth opened her mouth wide in shock, and quickly covered it, lest Percy hear her.

"They can't see us, I don't think!" Tori exclaimed, clearly amazed by what the mirror did. "How did his image come up?"

"Were you thinking of him when you touched the mirror?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, not consciously! I guess he's been in my subconscious this whole time." Tori saw Percy's lips moving as he was talking to Lexi, who looked so different Tori barely recognized her. Her hair was undone, her expression was hardened, and her attire was as un-Aphrodite as ever.

"That must be it. The mirror shows us what we want to see right now. It probably would have showed the same thing if I touched it." Annabeth started thinking. This was phenomenal!

"Why can't we hear them?" Tori asked.

"The waves are too loud. I think it's enough that we know that he's safe and sound." Annabeth commented. Not a few seconds later, she heard a ferocious sound.

It seemed like Percy heard it as well, as he was looking around the boat in a large radius. It must be something in the water, as the waves become much stronger for a minute, and then subsided. However, not a minute later, the same roar was heard again, yet more menacing, and the mirror's image slowly faded away into fog. The last thing she saw was Percy's alarmed face.

"That sounded monstrous." Tori said quietly.

"If I know the seas, it's nothing but monstrous." Annabeth sighed. "Come on. Let's take a shower."

As they entered the elegant bathroom, a couple miles across the shores of Lemnos, a large, thick snakelike head burst out of the water, and let out a mighty, menacing roar.


	10. Blackjack

T**A**W Productions

PJO series is for Rick Riordan and not for the T**A**W so please do not accuse any members of the T**A**W on Anything…thank you.

* * *

Blackjack

"_Don't I get a kiss for good luck?" _Percy heard himself say.

"_Come back alive, Seaweed Brain, then we'll see." _He heard a girl say.

"Percy! It's coming right at us!" Lexi screamed, but Percy didn't hear anything. The delirium that caught him at that moment was unwavering, until Lexi gave him a big slap across the face. "Percy! Wake up, gods damn you!" she yelled to his face.

Percy shook his head violently and only now, heard the loud, vicious roar of one of the hugest monsters he had ever seen. It had sea green scales and a gigantic neck the length of a 7 storey building. It's head was as big as a house, with rows upon rows of sharp, shining teeth and a tongue that pierced like the sharpest sword, with barbs upon it. Eyes like that of a snake, they were colored sea green as well, and were quite menacing.

The Scylla opened it's mouth again and gave another roar that would have deafened a regular human being. Fortunately, Percy was far from regular, even for a demigod. There was no way he could battle the Scylla with his bare hands, and he doubted Heracles could either. He had heard stories, however, from unclaimed children and from Chiron that the one that claims the heart of the Scylla and the Hydra would have his strength grow twofold.

_Those stories can't be true_, Percy thought. _I'll have to ask Annabeth about them. She'd know about that more than anybody else_. He sacrificed a split second to think about her and let the thought of her motivate him to survive. The most powerful weapon he had at the moment was the crystal, and the thought of using it suddenly became the best idea he had.

"Lexi, the crystal! Give me the crystal!" Percy told her.

"Percy, no! What if you lose it? What if you die and it takes it? You can't even wield it!" Lexi shook her head stubbornly. "You can defeat it without the crystal. You've done worse before."

Percy stared at her in alarm for a second and then realized she was right. It was foolish to use the crystal: he had no idea how to summon it's power, and perhaps the Scylla did. Then what?

He drew the sword he claimed from the underground before the fight with Hephaestion. It was longer than Riptide, but may not be as reliable as Riptide used to be before it failed him a couple of times. There must be some way to append the power of the crystal to the sword, but Percy didn't have that knowledge. He propelled the boat sideways and got ready to jump out of it.

"Lexi, you have to stay out of this fight, you understand? I can't drown since I'm in the water, and I'll have a better chance fighting it off if you can distract it from the boat. Can you do that for me?" Percy asked, as the Scylla surveyed them from the distance.

"Yes, I can. Don't worry. Just keep me far enough from it." Lexi said hurriedly. "Now go!"

Percy didn't bother wasting time answering. He jumped from the boat, sword in hand, and swam swiftly towards the Scylla. Meeting it in one on one combat is probably suicidal, but Percy was in his turf, he was in the water. But so was the Scylla. He had to use it's size to it's disadvantage.

_I can distract it with waves from the sides. Also, Lexi should make a good distraction; she's an Aphrodite, though I don't know how much she can turn the Scylla on. It's heart must be in it's chest, unless there's something I'm missing, and I should go straight for it._

Percy summoned high tidal waves as he swam. He got used to doing this after the war against Kronos, when he had nobody to fight, so he would create and improvise his own scenarios with other half-bloods, but he usually won very easily since it was in the water, unless Tyson was playing.

The Scylla wasn't going to stand still. It also moved, and by that, the waves Percy summoned were quickly washed away into nothingness. He felt the water pressure change as the Scylla lunged towards him and he sprang away into the air just in time. It soon became a dance, at least for Percy: the Scylla would lunge mercilessly, biting with it's mouth, slapping with it's tail, smashing with it's neck, but Percy would avoid them, and with great difficulty.

A moment came for Percy to jump on the neck of the Scylla, and he did, but couldn't hold on without losing his sword. He watched the sword fall into the water like it fell through the air: undisturbed. He cursed as he held on to the Scylla's sharpened scales.

It roared in frustration. Percy tried speaking to it as if it was another sea creature, but it's consciousness was nothing like he had ever experienced before. It was more ancient than the gods themselves, and acted thusly. It could not be tamed in any single way, shape or form. With nothing else to do, Percy tried summoning more waves as he climbed up the neck of the Scylla to it's neck.

Please do something, Percy thought, as he searched the waters for Lexi. He saw a revolving light, that was the brightest he had ever seen, and had to close his eyes. A split second later the Scylla roared in pain for the first time, and when Percy opened his eyes he saw a thick ray of white light shining right onto the Scylla's eyes. Seeing his chance, he jumped upwards and upwards until he reached the head, and held on to one of it's horns.

He pulled as hard as he can, and he felt it slowly detach from the head. It's roar became an eerie scream, and Percy pulled harder and harder, and eventually tore off one side of the base of the horn. It was two times taller than a spear and maybe 3 times as thick. The blinding light then stopped, and the Scylla raised it's head in relief, which caused Percy to slip off the head and slide down the neck, with the horn in hand.

As if it were planned, due to Percy's speed and strength, the horn's sharp end stabbed into the base of the neck of the Scylla, and it roared again, a much weaker one than before. Percy was forced to let go, unless he wanted a broken body, and landed on a wave near the body of the Scylla.

He quickly summoned the waters to return his sword and swam under the Scylla to it's chest. He heard its great heart pumping out gallons of blood to sustain it's gigantic body. He then stabbed and sliced, and his vision was blinded by the thick blood of the Scylla. When he cleared his vision, he saw it: a great green stone, shining warmly in the shadow of the waters under the Scylla's body.

Percy forcefully took the heart of the Scylla, and heard the creature die from underwater, as he swam back up to the surface. "I'll come back alive, Annabeth. I promise." He whispered, as the Scylla sank into the depths of the sea.

* * *

Annabeth woke up with a start. It was the first time she had slept in a bed, and she was sleeping worse than when she was sleeping on the road. How could she sleep, when she had seen Percy's alarmed face? He may not even be alive now. They tried out the mirror again yesterday after they finished showering, and nothing appeared except their reflections.

She looked towards Tori, who was sleeping facing her, on her stomach. She was only in her underwear, and Annabeth already got used to sleeping with her around_. She's a good person_, Annabeth thought. No wonder Percy and her had something. She couldn't imagine another Athena doing what Tori did so far; the whole leaving camp and running as far from the gods as possible thing.

"You can't sleep either, huh?" She heard Tori's voice, which sounded frustrated. She opened her eyes and looked at Annabeth. "You're thinking about him too."

Annabeth frowned. Was it that obvious? "You heard that thing. Anyone wouldn't be able to sleep after hearing that."

"Knowing Percy, he might've been through worse than that. Plus, he's in _Greece_, Annabeth. There's nothing we can do, even if we wanted to." Tori sat up on the king sized bed and covered herself with the sheets.

Annabeth sat up and got closer to her, letting their bare shoulders touch. "Percy's not invincible."

"That he's not. But he has the will to act, more than any other person I've seen. Other than you, at least, before the war ended." Tori sighed. "I know what you're thinking."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at her.

"You're wondering why I'm thinking about Percy, aren't you? Look, Annabeth, I'm sorry." Tori looked away. Even though the room was dark, she could see the perfect proportions of Tori's face contort as she frowned.

"Sorry about what? It wasn't all you. Percy was part of it as well. It's not like I've not been with other guys." Annabeth said impatiently.

"You two have a connection like no other demigods." Tori snorted. "To be honest, I'm just jealous you have someone like that."

"Well, we have been through a lot together. Basically everything. Well, not everything. Not yet." Annabeth took Tori's hand. "Don't worry about it, okay? You're an Aphrodite. You can get any guy you want."

"Not any guy. Percy didn't love me like he loved you. _Loves _you. I'm 100% sure he still does, and always will." Tori didn't take her hand back.

"Nothing lasts forever, Tori. Nothing. At least for us mortals." She chuckled. "He was an inch away from immortality. I don't think any other hero would have said no. Imagine what Clarisse would've said."

"What bothers me even more is what he's up to. He's not just looking for a new sword, right?" Tori asked Annabeth seriously.

"I'm not sure…He definitely dismissed Riptide quite fast, for such a powerful sword. If I were to guess, he's trying to face his fears. And a journey to Greece sounds exactly like something a hero would do to purge himself of his fears." Annabeth replied, looking at the ceiling.

"Fears? What does he fear? He beat Kronos!" Tori exclaimed.

"He dreaded facing Kronos. But he did what he had to do. We all did. But now it's different. It always begins with fear. At least for him and me." Annabeth shook her head. "He's brave in the sense that he'll fight anything and anyone that could hurt him or the people he cares about."

Tori didn't answer. She appeared to be in deep thought. "I think you're right. It begins with fear. He fears the gods, maybe?"

"I'm sure it's more than one thing. I'm afraid of losing him forever, so he might have that fear too. I guess that's why I can't sleep."

"If he's dead, we'd find out, Annabeth. You can bet he's alive. I'd bet my life on it." Tori squeezed Annabeth's hand hard. "There would be a change in the atmosphere."

"Let's stop thinking about this. Do you feel like going out or something? It looks like the sun might rise soon." Annabeth got out of the bed. "Let's have a walk. Then we can eat."

"Sounds like a plan." Tori got out of bed.

* * *

They were finally on land, and they had no idea where they were. They headed further southwest after the battle with the Scylla, but unlike Lemnos, this island was completely abandoned. They found no sign of any humans, but they found abandoned settlements near the shore. Percy first had to clear the shack of any rats and other petty dangers, so that they could settle down.

"Nothing to eat, is there?" Lexi smiled at him, despite everything that had happened in the past two days.

Percy frowned. "Start a fire for me?" he asked as he headed out of the shack. It had a bed on it, with a desk and a small fireplace. It was still light out, so he figured he might be able to catch something before all the animals go to sleep.

Lexi looked around the shack for a bathroom and immediately didn't find one. She exited the shack and looked into the other ones. She found picture books and a kitchen in one of them. She found a makeshift bathroom in another, but no shower. She needed to get clean desperately, because she stank of sea salt, and her skin was really dry.

She looked around for any possible water sources. She didn't find any. She went back to the shore, and took off her clothes slowly, inching into the lukewarm water. Despite everything, she felt better. The water was crystal clear, even in the weak sunlight. And there was no Scylla, not anymore.

She swam in a breast stroke for a few minutes until she dipped her head inside the water and got out, shaking her head violently. She screamed when she saw Percy looking down at her from his water boat.

He smiled a really small and amused smile. "Trying to relax, huh? Well, I got a fire started. Let's go inside. It's about to get dark."

"You scared me! I'll see you inside. I just need to get some clothes on."

"I'll get you some fresh clothes. See you inside."

When she got back on the shore, she dried off with her old clothes and saw Percy coming towards her with a handful of clothes, which she snatched quickly from him. He walked away chuckling.

"Shouldn't have done that. Foolish." Lexi muttered. He gave her one of her comfortable shorts and a long sleeved shirt. She didn't like his selection, but she wasn't about to tell him to come again with new clothes. She put them on, and headed inside to see a crackling fire and big pile of leaves.

"We're gonna have to go vegetarian tonight. These leaves aren't poisonous. At least according to the fish that eat them in the streams. I got us some water as well." He pointed towards a small table beside the bed, where there was a large bucket of clear water.

Lexi raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's only temporary. We'll be in civilization tomorrow. Having an Aphrodite around makes it much more difficult to camp. Lucky we found a shack." Percy joked.

They munched on the scarce berries and leaves and were still hungry. "Where to next?" Lexi inquired.

"Delphi. Not directly though. The Oracle no longer resides there, and it's a ruin to regular humans. Maybe to us it would be different. It could be the new lair of the Fates."

"How long till we get there?"

"Who knows? How many monsters are we going to meet?" Percy munched on a berry. He still felt the pounding beats of the Scylla's heart, which was in his pocket.

Lexi heard the beats as well. "How does it feel? Can I hold it?"

Percy put his hand inside his pocket and extracted the heart delicately. It still shone a warm green, and radiated a massive amount of energy. He couldn't possibly imagine wielding it in battle: it didn't seem like a weapon of any kind.

"I think you can append this to your sword, and make it stronger. Like a temporary black crystal." Lexi commented, staring at it in awe.

"Chiron once told me that the one that wields the heart of the Scylla and the heart of the Hydra will have his strength increased greatly." Percy replied. "I should keep it as a trophy, like I did the Minotaur horn. Until the heart of the Hydra at least."

"How did you kill it? I didn't doubt you for a second, but how?" Lexi looked at him with an amazed look on her face.

"Luck was on my side." Percy dismissed her amazement. "Your distraction helped quite a lot."

"That was nothing. You killed it." Lexi shook her head in awe. "Seeing something so great die…is nothing like I've ever seen before."

"_We_ killed it." Percy put his hand on her shoulder.

They chatted for a bit about lighter things, like memories of when they were back at Camp Half-Blood. Then their eyes failed them as they slept on the same bed. The next day was bright and warm, and they were ready to leave. But they were still hungry and tired.

"There's bound to be a proper settlement on the next island. Let's go." Percy and Lexi left the shack a little more messy, but were thankful for it's shelter. They trekked to the other side of the island, and approached the shore, ready to leave again.

As Percy was about to command the water to form a boat, he heard a neighing sound further down the shore. Refusing to give into a wild wish that just popped into his mind, he saw a Pegasus colored a pure black, with intelligent eyes. He then heard the voice that had grown familiar to him, but a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Hey, Boss! Need me?" Blackjack neighed happily.


End file.
